Fated
by moodiful819
Summary: Fate had taken everything from him and would continue to do so in his life, but as fate would have it, he was going to get some things back. The question was, would he accept them? eventual KakaOC. hints of other pairings. Please review
1. Prologue

Okay, this is a plot bunny that has plagued me for the past…oh, I don't know…about EIGHT MONTHS?! And it keeps popping up with new ideas and since I have some idea of what I want from this, here we go.

This story follows the plotline of the Naruto series. It will deviate from the plot later (or at least, I think it does) and the dialogue isn't accurate because I haven't seen much of the anime and haven't read any scanlation, and yeah. My first official OC romance story. (RSR does not count). Please regard me kindly and tell me if my character is Mary-Sue or not. Constructive criticism is much appreciated and flames will be ignored/ doused with water and be dealt with public humiliation.

Summary: Fate had taken everything from him and would continue to do so in his life, but as fate would have it, he was going to get some things back. The question was, would he accept them? (eventual KakaOC)

Alt Summary: Fate was a funny thing. Whatever you were set on doing, no matter how hard you try, you end up doing. And no matter how much Kakashi didn't believe in fate or happiness, it had a habit of believing in him. (eventual KakaOC)

Key: "Talking"  
'_thinking'  
__flashback_

* * *

**Prologue**

A groan sounded in the burnt forest area, the last in a mountain of blood-filled mouths and open abdomens. A woman removed her Anbu mask, wiping the sweat from her forehead as the dust settled in the battle-torn field, the remnants of a tree still burning away. The stench of blood in the air was heavy and she could feel it everywhere on her. She ripped her katana from the corpse under her, the metal withdrawing from the slit in his heart. She watched the blood roll off the metal and wondered how after all the carnage, the blade was not stained red forever.

She heard movement around her and slipped her mask back on. She could hear her heavy breathing echo against the inside of her mask, the nerves in her body screaming for rest, her lungs screaming for relief as blood wept from the lesions on her body, but she ignored her body's pleas. If she had to, she would fight. If she were to die, she would know she died with honor. As she stood with her sword in her hands, she saw a shadow move towards the sun and looked up, soon, five more came up, like the flowers after a thaw, life renewed.

She squinted her eyes, her shoulders hanging down as her legs quaked. If they were the

enemy, she would not last long, but she steadied her legs and strengthened her stance. Chakra depletion be damned, she was ordered to kill everyone and she was going to do it, one way or another.

Sounds of flesh being sliced and the sick splatter of blood on hard earth could be heard in the air, but a voice boomed over it all. She heard it and smiled in its familiarity, but felt like crying in relief at the words released into the air. "We're finished here. We can finally go home."

_'Home…'_

* * *

Birds chirped and the multitude of sounds from the forest hummed together as a group was walking back from a long journey. The sky was painted a bright blue as the sun bathed them in its warmth. The day was peaceful. "Come on, Kakashi-sensei! I wanna get back as soon as I can! You said you'd treat us all for ramen!"

The raven-haired boy of the group looked up at the blonde who was currently piping on and on about ramen and glared at him. "Dobe."

The blonde looked back and glared. "Shut up, teme!"

A pink-haired girl raised her hand. "Shut up, Naruto!" she screamed as she sent her hand sailing down to meet his head.

"But Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined as he nursed the goose egg shaped lump on his head.

The raven-haired boy scoffed. "Hn. Idiot."

But before the two males could go at it, the fourth member, a silver-haired man looked up from a small orange book. "Naruto, Sasuke, stop."

The two settled to sulk and glare at each other. Naruto glared at Sasuke and turned away indignantly. "He started it."

Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Hn. Idiot."

The forest soon erupted into a cacophony of noise as the two squabbled and bickered as the pink-haired girl attempted to calm the two, namely Naruto. The silver-haired man sighed and put down his book. _'Was passing them really a good idea?'_ But he quickly dismissed the thought. After the mission they had just completed, the three had proved more than enough that he had made the right decision.

Naruto glared spitefully at the raven-haired boy and turned away to gaze at the large wooden gates that signified his home when he noticed something peculiar. "Kakashi-sensei, who's that at the gates?"

Kakashi looked up in the middle of putting away his book when he froze, stopping dead in his tracks. The children behind him ground to a halt and Sakura looked up. "Why'd you stop, sensei?" she asked, but Kakashi ignored her, staring at the woman standing in front of the gates. "Amaya?"

Raven hair whipped in the wind as she stood outside the gates of her home. She heard her name called and slowly turned her head, tucking the raven strands behind her ear and smiled. "It's been a while…Kakashi."


	2. Chapter 1

If you haven't figured it out, I'm in what I'd like to call the OC phase of my writing career. It's when all I can do is think up OC plots and write stories about them. Luckily for you people, the planning has stopped. After I finished writing those stories to appease my rabid plot bunny and my muse/harpy, I will have, in total, eleven OC fics if I count the sequels.

Please be patient with me during this phase because it is no picnic for me either. I'd much rather be writing more Kakasaku or Sasusaku or NejTen or contribute to the ShikaTem community. Arigatou for reading my rant. Read and review please.

* * *

_Last time: _

"_Amaya?"_

_Raven hair whipped in the wind as she stood outside the gates of her home. She heard her name called and slowly turned her head, tucking the raven strands behind her ear and smiled. "It's been a while…Kakashi."_

* * *

Kakashi stared at the woman in front of him in shock as she smiled gently at him. "I thought you were dead…" he whispered. Catching himself on his rude behavior, he cleared his throat. "Welcome back, Amaya-san." he bowed.

She simply chuckled. "Do you really have to be so formal, Kakashi-kun?" she asked.

Naruto looked from between the two, his eyes following the ever-changing speaker. "How was the mission?" his sensei asked.

"Now, now. You know full well that I'm not at liberty to say, though, in answer to your earlier comment, you can see I'm still alive. It'll take more than an 8-year Anbu mission to kill me." she smiled.

Kakashi chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Hai hai. So how have you been?"

"Fine and I see the years have treated you well also."

"Well, if you can call it that."

"Always the same." she said rolling her eyes playfully.

Naruto began to steam as he stood. Questions bombarded his mind. They had been ever since he saw her at the gates and now, his ever-present short temper was going to show itself once more. "Kakashi-sensei, who the heck is she?!"

The two blinked, suddenly drawn from the conversation. They stared at him in silence and he was beginning to regret ever saying anything. "Grrr…." his stomach roared. Oh yes, definitely beginning to regret it.

* * *

Amaya blinked as she heard the blonde boy's stomach growl and chuckled. "I see you haven't eaten yet."

"Yeah, well, we just got back from our first real mission." Naruto said.

"Oh really, what rank?" she asked.

"Kakashi-sensei said it was like a B-rank mission or something!"

Amaya blinked. "But you guys look like you just got your headbands."

"Nah, we graduated months ago and since we did a good job and all, he's treating us to ramen at Ichiraku! Dattebayo!"

Amaya giggled. "Really? The Kakashi I remember never treated anyone out."

Kakashi chuckled sheepishly. "Well, they did complete a B-rank mission…"

'_Though it was really more of an A or an S.'_

"Hai hai." she said borrowing a page from Kakashi. "Well, don't let me stop you."

Naruto suddenly looked at her, his eyes bright. "Hey, why don't you come with us?"

"Are you sure?" she asked, her tone slightly hesitant.

"Yeah! I wanna hear more about sensei since he won't tell us anything." Naruto grumbled as Kakashi chuckled sheepishly once more.

"Well…"

"Please?" the pink-haired girl asked, her inner self scheming. _'That way, Naruto will leave me alone and I get to have Sasuke-kun all to myself. Shannaro!'_

"Alright…" she said. The raven-haired boy scoffed and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets. "Can we go now?"

* * *

"Here you go."

"Thanks, old man!" Naruto said as he broke his chopsticks. The others nodded in agreement.

"Itadakimasu." they chorused.

Naruto plowed straight into his ramen. Slurping up a noodle, he looked up past Sakura to the older woman. "So, who are you anyway?" Sakura slapped him over the head. "Don't be rude, Naruto!"

The raven-haired woman smiled. "It's alright. I don't mind. I'm Akiko Amaya. I was in Anbu with Kakashi-kun. What about you guys?"

"Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be the next Hokage. Dattebayo! And the girl who hit me, that's Sakura-chan." he smiled, earning him another smack to the head. "Shut up, Naruto!" she ground out. Turning on her stool, she bowed. "Haruno Sakura."

Amaya smiled and turned to face the boy sitting to the left of Kakashi. "And you are?"

"That's Uchiha Sasuke. You might remember him. He doesn't talk much nowadays and all these genin are my students." Kakashi smiled, pushing away his empty bowl.

"Nani? You have students? What about Anbu?"

"Oh, well, time have changed. A few years after you left, I left Anbu and became a regular Jounin. Then, they stuck me with these three."

"Aa." she said, nodding sagely. She slurped up her noodle and chewed it thoughtfully.

* * *

Kakashi watched her chew and scanned Amaya over. She wore a black vest that zipped up in the front with a long red skirt that stopped just above her ankles, a slit in the side. Her raven hair fell past her shoulders, stopping in the small of her back.

He trailed his gaze to her face, to the deep red eyes. He was glad to see that part of her hadn't changed from her long mission, but he knew she had grown.

His gaze trailed down to the cleavage that pushed against the front of her vest. _'Grown a lot.'_ he thought lecherously.

"C."

Kakashi looked up, startled. "I'm sorry?"

She slurped the noodle from her chopsticks and swallowed. "I saw you looking at my cleavage and decided to save you the trouble."

Kakashi's face flushed behind his mask as he realized he had been caught. In the back of his mind, he head Sasuke scoff and his two other students shout 'Hentai!' Amaya simply smiled at him. "Don't worry, I get this a lot." she said laughingly. Kakashi gave a short 'hn' and looked away as Amaya laughed.

* * *

Naruto slurped down the remnants of a bowl of ramen. His sixth bowl to be exact.

Kakashi and Amaya talked about weaponry and Sakura stared at Sasuke, a sigh leaving her lips now and then. When Kakashi mentioned Sasuke, Amaya leaned back on her stool. "Uchiha…Uchiha…Ah! That reminds me! I haven't seen Itachi-kun yet. I need to find him so I can give him his present. Baka, baka, baka!" she shouted to herself, slapping her forehead. She looked over to Sasuke. "Sasuke-san, have you seen your brother around?"

Sasuke tensed, his chopsticks snapping in his hands. Sakura and Naruto looked over curiously. _'Brother?'_

"Amaya-san, Itachi is no longer in the village. Four years ago, he slaughtered his entire clan except for Sasuke. He betrayed Konoha and is now a missing nin." Kakashi explained. Amaya's face became shadowed. "I…see. Gomen, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke gave no reply.

Minutes passed and Amaya talked to all of them, tentatively tip-toeing a fine line when it came to Sasuke. Naruto soon became stuffed and Kakashi pulled out his wallet to pay while Sakura and Amaya continued their small conversation about kunoichi lifestyle. Kakashi gave a small (if not slightly defeated) wave telling them it was time to go and they stepped out of the ramen stand.

Amaya waved the group goodbye as they disappeared down the dirt road. Finally gone from sight, she slowly let down her hand and her fist clenched as she looked around the bustling village.

Families were out, smiling in the roads. Shinobi nodded at her politely and she nodded back, but she saw the changes in her home. The store that stood across her which was now a grocery store used to be her favorite bookstore and Ayame had grown since she had last seen her. The Uchiha clan had been slaughtered, but most importantly, Itachi had betrayed their home.

Her heart wrenched at the thought and she bit her lip as she stared up at the bright blue sky. _'I really have been gone a long time.'_


	3. Chapter 2

To the only person who put this story on their alert list...thank you. I love you. I'm going to erect a statue in your penname because you're essentially the only person reading this. (now in addition to my two friends that actually reviewed this story.) See, if you review and tell me how my OC progress is doing, you will be recognized because I am desperate for this story. (Yes, I have no shame).

* * *

Voices called out to each other in the crowd of people that walked in the busy main road of Konoha. People shouted their wares and children called out to their friends. Amaya smiled at the sight before ducking as a wooden plank was carted in the crowd. Shaking her head, she walked over to a small onigiri shop to get her lunch. _'I can't believe they're still here. My favorite onigiri shop is still here after 8 years!'_ she thought happily. She felt like crying. _'I wonder if Machi is still there. Hopefully they still use the same recipe.'_

"Hey Amaya-chan!"

Amaya looked over her shoulder as she deposited a bill into the cashier's hand. "Naruto-san?"

The blonde boy ran up to her, adjusting his hitai-ate. "Whatcha doing? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Stop being so annoying, Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she came up behind him and pounded her fist into his head. Amaya sweatdropped as he rubbed the new large bump and wrapped her onigiri in a bandanna. "Just getting some lunch before I go training."

"Training?" Naruto asked. A grin split across his face. "Hey Amaya-chan, why don't you come with us?"

"Stop being stupid dobe," Sasuke said as he came into the shop.

"I'm not sure…"

"What's this all about?" Kakashi asked as he leaned against a wooden beam.

"Your students are asking me to train with them," she explained.

"Aw, come on, Kakashi-sensei. Please?" Naruto pleaded.

"Stop whining," Sasuke said coolly.

"Come on! It'll be fun!!" he said enthusiastically.

Amaya looked at Kakashi as he held his chin in thought. "Well…I do want to see how you've improved since you left…if that's alright with you."

Amaya blinked. _'I definitely have been gone a long time. Kakashi-kun is being nice to me? He never asked for my opinion before. Then again, he used to get really pissed when I said –kun instead of –sempai like I was supposed to.'_

A tap was felt on her shoulder. "Amaya-san?" Sakura asked. Amaya blinked before shaking her head and smiling. "Sure." She looked up at Kakashi. "Hope you won't feel too bad if I kick your butt."

"Only if you can. Only if you can," he smiled.

* * *

Naruto landed in the patch of grass, sighing at the breeze that flew across his face. He stared up at the clouds that rolled across the sky. _'Is this what Shikamaru feels when he watches the clouds? This sense of calm?'_ But the urge to move itched at him and he sat up to see Kakashi look back before nodding to Sakura to take his place.

* * *

Kakashi watched as Sakura stood and faced her opponent/crush. She smiled. "Let's do our best, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke let a bored 'hn' escape his lips and urged her to come at him. A dejected sigh escaped her lips before looking up like nothing had happened and jumped high into the trees.

The two high-ranking shinobi looked up as Sasuke darted into the trees, the sound of Naruto's light snoring in the background. Amaya smiled at the boy before looking up as Sasuke threw a kunai at Sakura, who dodged it. "You know…they remind me of your old team," she mused.

Kakashi turned the page of Icha Icha Paradise. "Really?" he said noncommittally.

"Yeah," she smiled. She pointed up to the tree line where a black blur rushed across. "Sasuke reminds me of you," she began before peering across the field. She pointed to the sleeping Naruto. "Naruto reminds me of Obito," she said laughingly. She turned back to Kakashi whose gaze never left his book. "And you can guess who Sakura reminds me of."

"Hn."

Leaves rustled and the two looked up as Sakura pushed chakra to her feet and let herself slide to the underside of the branch as shuriken embedded themselves in the tree trunk. Amaya let a small smile grace her lips. "You know, Sakura has excellent chakra control."

"I know."

"She'd make a great medic."

"I know."

"She's a lot like Rin."

Kakashi's eye drooped further as his shoulders hunched forward. "She should. Rin was her aunt," he replied, his voice tired.

Amaya turned to him; her right leg pulled up against her chest. "Do you still miss her?"

Amaya could feel him tense slightly beside her and she waited for a response. "I--"

She could feel more than hear the hesitation in his voice as he debated with himself on whether he should respond. Suddenly, he lifted himself up gracefully. He pocketed his book and looked down at her lazily. "Want to spar?" She looked up at him and nodded.

She would not press.

* * *

Kakashi stared at Amaya as sweat rolled down his forehead. He felt the grass prick his skin and blinked as he grappled with the full weight of the situation. A knee dug into his back and he felt labored breathing against his ear. "I win."

Kakashi couldn't believe it. Not only was he beaten. Amaya beat him at taijutsu. Granted, he had quit Anbu years before and hadn't fought her in nearly a decade, but still! If memory served him right (as it usually did), she had sucked at taijutsu when they were in Anbu together. Okay, sucked was a bit harsh. She wasn't that bad…just…oh, who the hell was he kidding? She flat-out sucked. Her skill level was pretty weak, but it was still good enough to guarantee she wouldn't be killed from horrible skill alone.

Kakashi looked back at her as her hair fell over her shoulder, her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. The spar was pretty simple. Taijutsu only, no special weapons, no sharingan, just their fists. It was just to test the waters, see how she improved. Besides, he needed a workout. And now, as he stared up at the triumphantly smiling woman, he still had to wonder how he had lost to her.

'_I'm getting old.'_

He felt her getting off of his back and the loud cheering of Naruto as he stood. She offered her hand out and he shook it. "You've improved," he said and she grinned from ear-to-ear. "Thought you could beat me at my worst area, didn't you?" she said slyly.

"Well…"

She chuckled. "Don't worry about it. If I hadn't had my friend give me some pointers, it would've been me eating grass today."

Kakashi blinked. "Your teammate?"

Amaya looked away, her voice bearing a hint of pain as she spoke. "Not exactly."

Kakashi didn't press, simply smiled in that strange way of his before dismissing his team and leaving in a cloud of smoke.


	4. Chapter 3

_Sniffling could be heard as Amaya ran through the village. She looked into the house. It was a surprisingly cold night and the winds howled as they blew the flames to the neighboring houses. _

_She entered, the smell of smoke billowing in from the window. The house was no different than the others she had been to. A main room with a dining table, sink, stove, and shelves littered with scrolls with a bedroom in the back. The door opened and Amaya looked behind her. In the doorway was an Anbu member, small eye slits in her oval-shaped porcelain mask. Amaya stared at the Anbu member and a shiver ran down her spine as she gazed upon the familiar mask. She knew it well. She should. That mask was hers. _

_The door closed behind her and a roar sounded. The Anbu member turned on her heel, her katana blocking the blow that would've ended her life. She stared into the violet-colored eyes of the enemy, tears flowing from them as ashes and soot covered her face and matted her blonde hair. The woman's name left Amaya's lips in a whisper. "Sumiko…"_

_Sumiko pushed away and thrust her sword towards the masked figure. She parried and Sumiko's lip trembled as they locked swords. Her arms trembled as both women pushed cold metal against cold metal. They were just too evenly matched. "We don't have to do this." _

_Amaya's uniformed self pushed away and thrust her sword. Sumiko blocked it. "I have to," she answered._

"_No, you don't. We can stop right now!" _

_The Anbu member didn't answer and Amaya bit back the tears as she repeated one of the most important shinobi rules of conduct. _

_The tears ran down Sumiko's face faster. "Don't do it, Amaya!"_

_Amaya covered her ears and shut her eyes. Why did Sumiko have to make it so hard? 'Never show your emotions. Never show your emotions.'_

"_I don't want to fight you, Amaya!"_

_Blood spilled from her mouth and her katana fell from her hands as they went to grip the sword in her heart. Sumiko's knees fell from under her and a dull 'thud' was heard as they met the wood floor. From outside, the smell of blood and burning flesh mixed with the smell of the falling cherry blossoms._

_Sumiko looked up at her friend and Amaya trembled as Sumiko coughed up more blood. She was breathing her last breaths and Amaya could feel her heart hammering against her chest. The sound of her breathing filled her ears, but even it couldn't drown out the pained whisper of her best friend. "Why?"_

_Sumiko died and the Anbu officer wiped her blade clean. Amaya saw the eyes behind the mask look at the backroom and felt her heart wrench as a cold sweat ran down her skin. The Anbu officer walked determinedly towards the door and Amaya held her arms out in front of her. "No!" she screamed; the Anbu just walked right through her._

_The knob was turned and the door was opened. Inside the bedroom was a small girl with blonde hair and sapphire eyes. She trembled, clutching her teddy bear to her body and Amaya had to bite her lip to stop it from trembling. "W-who are you? What have you done to mama?" the girl asked._

_The Anbu officer knelt down and removed the mask from her face, a smile on her lips. "Hi Sachiko-chan."_

_Sachiko grinned, all fear leaving her system. "Amaya-chan!!" the girl squealed as she ran up to the woman. Amaya smiled and held her arms out to envelop the girl. "Hi sweetie."_

_Amaya watched herself hug Sachiko and her body shook, her pupils dilated. _

_Sachiko nuzzled her friend's neck and felt her hands put behind her neck. Something started pinching at them and Sachiko tried to shift the item before realizing something. "Amaya-chan, I can't move my wrists." Amaya smiled sadly and slowly rose. _

_Amaya felt tears sting her eyes. 'No, don't. Don't, don't, don't. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it.'_

_The woman placed the Anbu mask over her face once more and she raised her katana. Sachiko stared up at her, her eyes wide with fear as she stared upon the demon's face. Who knew a demon could have such a kind smile?_

_The Anbu officer raised the katana over her head and Sachiko screamed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"_

_Amaya felt the bile rise in her throat as a head rolled across the floor. The body fell forward and gushed blood as it landed beside the head and sapphire eyes stared up at her, innocence broken._

* * *

"Ah!"

Amaya sat upright in her bed, her sheets tangled around her ankles. She looked around and used the moonlight filtering through her window as a guide.

She was in her apartment. A small dresser, a nightstand, a mirror, a chair, and a desk were all that were there. She let out a relieved sigh as she raked her hand through her hair, but then, she spotted the box on her desk.

It was a small wooden box, hand-made. Sumiko's husband had made it for her before he died. Sachiko and Sumiko were the ones who had decorated it. She could see the remnants of the tattered pink and green feathers coated in glitter on the left side. On the right, she could see the intricate patterns Sumiko had painted catching the moonlight. She had used that box to carry all the important documents and scrolls back to Konoha, but also…it's what she carried her small trinkets in. Sachiko's favorite doll, a birthday card from their family, some photos, Sumiko's wedding rings, and other things she had gotten from her mission.

A sigh escaped Amaya's lips and she laid her head back down on her pillow. Her head swam with sounds, a mixture of joyous laughs and frightened screams. Needless to say, sleep had not come easy.

* * *

Kakashi stood at the rail overlooking the third portion of the Chunnin Exams. A yawn was stifled and he turned his head, his hands never leaving his pockets. "Are you alright?"

Amaya looked up sleepily. She stifled a yawn and nodded at him tiredly. "I'm fine."

"Really now?" he asked, a mix of skepticism and boredom in his voice. Heaven forbid that Hatake Kakashi should show any real emotion in his voice.

Amaya nodded and rubbed her eye. "Bad dream."

"Bad dream?" he asked, wondering she hadn't just said nightmare.

"From my Anbu mission," she explained, misunderstanding his question. She looked out into the arena where Hayate stood with Ino and Sakura. "So…do you think she'll make it?"

"She made it this far."

"Were you surprised?" she asked noncommittally.

"A little, but then again, it seems like she's changed since we've seen her last."

"Hai hai," she answered and Hayate coughed, dark circles under his eyes. He looked between the two kunoichi and raised his arm. "Begin."

* * *

Kakashi leapt back up to the viewing area. He placed Sakura against the wall beside Ino and they leaned against each other for support. Funny how things worked out.

It was minutes later when Sakura's lids began to flutter. She blinked, once, twice, before her beryl gaze stared out.

"Finally; glad to see you're awake."

She let out a small groan. "Ino? Did I--?"

"No. It was a tie. We both lost." Ino answered. She turned to her friend/rival. "You really surprised me, Sakura. You've really improved. I'm gonna have to train to get stronger just to catch up to you."

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, let's both get stronger."

"Oh good, you're awake now."

Sakura and Ino looked up to see a warm smile. Amaya placed her hand to Sakura's cheek, summoning some chakra to her hand as she healed the damaged blood vessels. "You got her pretty good, Ino-chan. How are you both feeling?"

"Fine." they answered and Amaya smiled. "Ino-chan, want me to heal you too?"

Ino shook her head. "No, thank you."

"Hey Ino!"

Ino looked back at Sakura and smiled. "I better get back to my team. See you later Sakura, Amaya-san."

Amaya and Sakura watched Ino leave and a shadow was cast upon their backs. They had a new guest. "You're a medic?"

Amaya looked back and flashed a smile. "No. I just learned how to repair the small stuff. Lacerations, bruises, cuts, etc."

Kakashi blinked. "I don't remember you learning this in Anbu, so when--?"

"I learned during my Anbu mission from…a friend," she said quietly, a flicker of pain darting past her face. Kakashi nodded in understanding. Anbu was something no one wanted to talk about, especially those who were in it.

"Hey, Amaya-chan!!"

The group looked up to see Naruto running along the narrow walkway that was the viewing area. Naruto abruptly stopped, skidding to a halt before them. "Hey, Amaya-chan, are you gonna stay to watch Bushy-brows fight the Sand-freak?"

Amaya smiled as to say 'yes' but realization dawned on her face. "Sorry, Naruto, I can't. I have an Anbu mission to get ready for."

"Anbu mission?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. I came here to tell you, but I got caught up in the excitement. I'm going to be gone for a while, if I come back at all," she joked, "so I'm going to miss part of the final rounds."

"Man, that sucks," Naruto pouted.

"Yeah, but hey, it's my job."

Naruto shrugged, his way of saying 'I know'. Amaya smiled. "You know my rules, right?"

"Don't tell anyone about your job or your name and don't get into any trouble," Naruto replied.

Amaya smiled. "Yup. Oh, good luck on your training, Naruto."

Sakura and Naruto blinked. "What do you mean?"

Amaya smiled and pressed a finger to her lips. "You'll see," she winked. "Give my regards to Sasuke and good luck." And they nodded just before the last hand sign was made and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


	5. Chapter 4

School sucks; I'm tired, bitter, and got my retainer, but your reviews make life bearable.

* * *

The sun shined brightly as a hand reached under a white mask to wipe away sweat. Amaya sighed a breath of relief against the cool porcelain of her mask as she passed through the gates of her home. _'Home…'_

After her latest Anbu mission, she thought she'd never see home again, but here she was, completely unharmed.

When she came home, she hoped to regain the feeling of safety, but as she looked around the village through the openings in her mask, she saw the buildings being boarded up and the people of the village fixing their homes. She leapt on top of a roof and gazed out. Part of the wall bordering the village was being repaired and some of the land was full of craters and she could see patches of bare forest. A hawk cried out above her head and she looked up and gasped. There was a crack on the Sandaime's head. As she stared at the Hokage monument, a testament to her great home, she felt her blood run cold. _'What happened here?'_

A whistle was heard and Amaya looked down to see her captain point to the Hokage tower. He was going to send the mission report. She nodded and he and her three teammates disappeared in a cloud of smoke and she continued to look around the village.

"Hey Konohamaru!" Amaya looked down. _'Naruto?'_

A hand scratched blonde hair as Naruto laughed. He leaned down to hand a small coupon to his brown-haired friend when a figure leapt from a roof. The two stared up at the Anbu member.

The person had on a pair of black pants, a tight-fitting black sleeveless shirt, long black gloves, stopping a few inches below their shoulder, a katana, black boots, and white armor. On their face was a porcelain mask. It reminded Naruto of Haku's mask, but the layout was different. The eye slits were wider and curved and it was painted different. Red paint bordered the eyes and a single line ran from under the center of each eye, connecting to the bottom of the curve of the mask. A tug was felt against his jacket and Naruto looked down. "I thought Anbu weren't supposed to be out in the day." Konohamaru whispered.

The Anbu member bowed to the boy, startling him. "Hello honorable grandson. Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened in realization of the person. So this Anbu member was…

"Konohamaru, I'm gonna catch up to you later."

"Boss, I don't trust…"

"It's okay," Naruto reassured. Konohamaru looked warily at the person before nodding reluctantly and walking away.

"Can we go somewhere private?" the Anbu member asked. Naruto nodded and led the person to an alley. Naruto looked back up to Amaya. "How'd the mission go?"

"Pretty well. I didn't get hurt because it was just one person this time. I was just backup." Amaya looked around at the people rebuilding their homes and spoke over the sounds of hammers, "What happened here, Naruto?"

Naruto's gaze fell to the ground, his shoulders falling. It was obviously not good. "The old man's dead."

Amaya blinked. "What?!"

"Yeah. While you were gone, we had the final part of the Chunnin exam and…they planned an attack."

"Who?"

"The Sand and the Sound. Sasuke went after the sand freak, but the old man got caught by the snake guy from the Forest of Death."

"Snake guy?"

"Yeah. His name was Orochimaru. Anyway, me and Sakura went after Sasuke and the sand kid, Gaara. He and I got into a fight and I won, but the old man, he…he wasn't so lucky."

"He…"

"The funeral was three weeks ago."

* * *

It was around noon that day when Amaya came up the grassy knoll. She shifted the flowers cradled in her arms, a bunch of white carnations, as she walked towards the memorial stone, so it was no surprise when she saw a familiar shock of hair. "Hello Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi turned back, giving her a nod and a quick once-over. She was dressed in black and judging by the flowers, she was here to pay respects to someone. He stepped to the side, silently asking her to come forward. She gave a small polite smile and placed the flowers on the epitaph before giving a prayer. A silence stretched between them when Kakashi looked down. "Who are you giving respects to?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"The Sandaime, of course." She stood, smoothing out her black dress before staring out into the distance. "What happened while I was gone?"

"Orochimaru had formed an alliance with the Sand village and waged war on us. We drove them out while my students went after Gaara and Orochimaru faced off with the Hokage."

"What happened?"

"The Sandaime tried to seal off Orochimaru's soul, but he only managed to seal off his arms, destroying his ability to use jutsu, but in exchange for that, the Hokage died." Amaya nodded, accepting the words and looked up at him. "What next?" she asked.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, his hands never leaving the pockets of his jounin uniform. "We move on," he answered.

Amaya looked at him as she mulled over his answer. It was a simple answer, but it was still so complex. So many meanings were in that simple phrase, so many possibilities. She smiled to herself. _'It's just like him.'_

"Something amusing?" he asked nonchalantly. She opened her mouth to reply, but a growl beat her to the punch. She felt him stare at her and folded her arms over her stomach, a bright red painting her face. "This is so embarrassing. Dammit, I knew I forgot to do something!"

Kakashi blinked. "You…forgot to eat?"

"You know how forgetful I can be. Remember Anbu training?" she snapped.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. "How could I forget? When I taught you, I had to remind you at least five times to check yourself before you left. I was kind of hoping you'd grow out of that."

Amaya pouted. "I did grow out of it." At the skeptical look she received, she sighed. "Okay, not completely. I only forget the small stuff."

"I don't think eating should be classified as a small thing."

Amaya simply shrugged and Kakashi sighed. "Why don't you grab something to eat before you keel over?"

Amaya chuckled nervously. "I probably should. Well, I better go get changed. Never know when my captain is going to give me another mission."

"That reminds me, how did you manage to get back without a scratch on you?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm just lucky," she smiled. She ran up to the top of the hill and waved before running down the other side.

Kakashi placed down his hand and placed it in his pocket before scoffing. _'I wish she'd be more careful. What she has going for her, might not last long.'_

* * *

Kakashi didn't know how Amaya managed to rope him into eating with her. Hell, he didn't even know how he managed to run into her. After he talked to Kurenai and Asuma about the appearance of Itachi and left Sasuke, he somehow ran into Amaya in the street. They talked and he found out she still had not eaten and now, he found himself in a small onigiri shop.

Kakashi stared at the small rice ball in his hands and saw the two sitting before his old teammate. "You know, the way you're eating those, I would've thought you were Sasuke. Him, or Naruto," he said ducking the slap meant for his head. Amaya scoffed, but looked to him. "Wait, Sasuke likes onigiri?"

"And tomatoes and…not much else. I think that's about it," Kakashi said thoughtfully. Amaya nodded and reached for one of the uneaten onigiri when she heard the stool beside her scrape across the floor. Kakashi stood up and Amaya looked up at him. "Kakashi-kun, what is--Hey!" she shouted as he ran out of the store. Cursing to herself, she slammed her hand on the counter before rushing out after him.

* * *

"Glad to see you made it, Hatake," Asuma said. Kakashi nodded and Kisame sneered while Itachi regarded him coolly. Movement appeared in the water and the two cloaked men moved as another Kakashi came out of the water. The two moved aside and Itachi stared at the man. "You can dispel your clone now, Kakashi." A poof of smoke was heard and Kakashi stared at the man. "Why are you here, Itachi?"

"We have come for the Jinchuuriki," he replied.

"Hey Itachi, it's okay if I kill these guys, right?" Itachi looked to his partner. "No. The way you handle things isn't…efficient." Suddenly, water twisted its form and Kakashi moved back. Kurenai moved forward and Kakashi shouted. "Stay back, Kurenai!"

Suddenly, shuriken were shot at him and a wall of water appeared in front of Kakashi. "I guess my village should be honored that the great Copy Ninja uses some of our jutsu," Kisame sneered. Kakashi ignored him and stared at Itachi. A shuriken gleamed in the sunlight and Kakashi leapt back, water enveloping him.

Itachi smirked as the water flowed off Kakashi. "Very impressive Kakashi. You've learned to use our kekkei genkai well, but you can't use it for long. You don't have our stamina and that makes it…inefficient."

"Kakashi!"

The four turned back to see a black-haired woman in an Anbu uniform. "Stay back, Amaya!" Asuma warned, but it was too late, she had already landed in the water.

Itachi looked back, an amused smirk on his face. "Ohayo Ama-chan."

Amaya looked back, startled. Only a handful of people had ever called her that, but most of them were dead, Sasuke had forgotten, which left…"Itachi-kun?"

The 21-yr-old turned her head and saw him, tears welling up in her eyes. It had been so long since she had seen him. She couldn't believe it. He'd grown so much from the 9-yr-old she knew, but then she began to notice the other things. The dark cloak, the lifeless look in his eyes, then the scratch across his headband. She glared. "Why did you betray us?" He gave no reply and she felt anger boil in her.

He had been her friend, possibly her best friend at the time, but here he was, no longer friend, but her enemy. Enemy. Even the thought of him being that felt like acid, but it was the truth. As she stared at him, the sunlight reflecting off his hitai-ate, she couldn't deny this, but she deserved an answer. "Why did you betray us?" she asked through gritted teeth. But he gave her no answer and she felt her anger spread in her body. _'Dammit, he's ignoring me!'_

"WHY?!" she screamed. He smirked triumphantly and she swore she saw red. Had he really forsaken his past? Did he really feel this village had nothing to offer him? That their friendship had meant nothing to him?'

That's what did it. The thought that their home meant nothing to him, that she had meant nothing to him when she held out a small part of her heart for him. But as she unsheathed her katana and charged at him, ignoring the shouts of the others, she could see what she had feared she would. In his eyes, she saw nothing.

A sharp stinging pain made itself known and she looked up as Itachi smirked down at her. Her eyes traveled down the sword to see what he had blocked her attack with. In his hand was a single kunai. She stared in disbelief. _'How did he--'_

"Ama-chan, I thought you would be stronger than this. I'm a bit disappointed."

"Don't you dare use my name in such a familiar way Itachi," she spat.

Itachi looked at her, feigning a look of pain upon an innocent face. All lies.

"I thought I was your friend. I'm hurt," he said and Amaya felt the bile in her throat. She couldn't believe she had ever called him friend.

Another gash and she suddenly felt blood running down her thigh and mixing with the river. She glared at him defiantly and slashed downwards, aiming for his shoulder. He dodged it and she tried to catch him as he moved left. He dodged the attack and sent a downward slash; she disrupted it, feeling the vibrations shake her sword. She bit back a curse. How did he get so strong?

She looked up into his eyes, obsidian in crimson pools. She remembered how she used to stare into his eyes during their childhood. His eyes were haunting just as she remembered, but instead of the flame she had known in their youth, all she saw was ash.

Cold metal buried itself in warm flesh and Amaya coughed, the taste of blood filling her mouth. She looked down to see a katana embedded in her body. Her vision became blurred and she could feel the blood running down her stomach and coughed again. She felt the sword slide out of her and stifled a moan of pain as it left her. She felt her knees hit the water and felt herself slowly descending into the water as her chakra started to falter. She looked up and saw him wiped the blood off his blade. "Twenty minutes. More than I expected from you. You've improved." And then she blacked out.

* * *

Kakashi watched as Amaya began to sink underwater. Kurenai ran forward and Kisame smiled at the thought of another body felled by his sword. Itachi held his arm out to stop his eager teammate. "Don't."

Kisame looked up, surprised and Itachi shook his head. "You won't do it efficiently. Let me show you how it's done."

Itachi stared ahead at Kakashi. "Let me show you the true extent of our bloodlimit."

* * *

Everything was red. As Kakashi blinked open his eyes, he looked around. He was tied to a wooden cross; that was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was that he was in black and white. Actually, most of the landscape was black and white. And the third thing, sitting above him and the barren landscape of this world, was a red moon.

"You are experiencing the Mangekyou Sharingan. With this, I can control space and time. One second could feel like one millisecond or…"

"One hour," said another Itachi.

The original Itachi held up a sword and Kakashi bit back a groan as he felt it embed itself into his body. _'It's not real,'_ he thought. He opened his eyes and saw there was not two, but three Itachi's now and three swords embedded themselves into his body. "You will be stabbed for ten hours straight, what seems like years of agony will really be only be one second," said one Itachi.

"Only one second will pass for every ten hours you feel," said another Itachi.

"And that's what you'll be enduring for the next 72 hours."

More swords embedded themselves in his body and a choked sound escaped his lips. _'It's not real. This is all in my mind.'_

"Sure, it's in your mind…" Itachi began and Kakashi opened his eyes wide; Itachi smirked. "But it doesn't mean that you can't feel it." he said stabbing another sword into him.

"Admit it, every nerve in your being is screaming in agony." Another sword.

Soon, images appeared, all crosses with a person crucified on them. Kakashi watched, panting heavily as the clones of Itachi buried their swords into his images' bodies and could feel pain searing his body, but the images of Itachi in front of him had yet to touch him. More swords seemed to bury into his flesh and he pulled against his binds as pained gasps filled the air.

He fell limply forward, his muscles screaming in pain as his mind screamed in exhaustion. Crimson eyes seemed to rush past him. "This has been one second. 71 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds to go." The sword-wielding images raised their weapons once again. Steel buried into his flesh and he howled to the blood-red moon.

* * *

Water rushed passed Kakashi as he fell to his hands and knees. "Kakashi, what's wrong? What happened?" Asuma asked worriedly.

Kakashi panted heavily and he began to steadily sink into the water. He was only an inch under the water when Gai reached in and pulled him out and threw him over his shoulder. "Kurenai, Asuma, the other Anbu members should be arriving shortly. We just have to hold out until then."

They nodded in understanding and Itachi looked to Kisame. "It would not be good to have to fight against the Anbu." The Uchiha male turned to the Konoha ninja. "We will be seeing you soon." he said and the two disappeared from the scene, the river water flowing gently under their feet.

* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kakashi felt warmth against his skin and shut his eyes as he felt a light try to peek into his eyelids. Then he heard that sound, the monotonous sound he had woken up to. Soon, more noises made themselves known to the shinobi. He could hear the dull murmur outside and wheels squeak as they moved. The smell of bleach and stale air reached his nose and he had an idea of where he was, but he wanted to open his eyes to be sure.

When he first opened his eyes, all he saw were fuzzy white blotches. Blinking his eyes, the white blotches gave way to color. The images gradually became sharper as he focused his eyes and he saw the metal bed frame, the whitewashed walls, and the tubes peeking out from underneath his bed sheet. He turned his head to see and IV bag and a heart monitor.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Kakashi turned, expecting a nurse, but saw a woman in a pale hospital yukata, brandishing an IV stand of her own. "Amaya?"

She smiled softly. "Yep."

He held a hand to his head, a throbbing pain in his skull and he groaned. "What happened?"

"Well, I acted like an idiot and rushed into a fight with Itachi. My temper and all," she said laughingly. "Anyway, I got stabbed and apparently, you faced something called the Tsukuyomi."

A hiss of pain escaped his masked lips. "I remember that. How long have we been here?"

"I don't know. I only woke up two days ago."

"Aa." Amaya shook her head at his monosyllabic answer and noticed he was still clutching his head. "Oh! I'll get a nurse. Maybe they have some pain killers."

She went to the door and she went out, but her hand still rested on the knob. She looked back and smiled and murmured something, but Kakashi still heard it, despite her soft tone.

"_I'm glad you're okay."_


	6. Chapter 5

I use the term lover loosely. For me, if you love them and they love you, you're lovers. Whether you had sex or not like I've heard other people use to define lovers, is irrelevant to me.

* * *

Birds chirped in the blue sky as children played in the streets of the village. Near them, in the walls of the hospital, patients were being helped outside for some fresh air. Yes, it was a very pleasant, benign day, but that feeling didn't reach the rooftop of the hospital.

* * *

"What'd you say, you ass?!"

Sasuke smirked at the blonde boy. "You heard me. You're weak. Even your Rasengan is weak compared to my Chidori."

"You're wrong," Naruto glowered.

"And you know what else? This village is weak. I'll never be able to become stronger if I stay here. You, Sakura, this whole village is stifling. I-"

"But we can help you get your brother!"

"I don't need your help. I need power," he replied, his shoulders tensing with each word.

"I thought we were friends, Sasuke."

Sasuke scoffed. "Friends? We were never friends, Naruto. You thought we were brothers because of our situations. The only reason you sought me out was because my family was dead and you saw someone was just as lonely as you and that maybe they wanted to have a friend. Well, you know what? I don't need you or your pity!"

"You're wrong!"

"Prove it!" Sasuke shouted, the Sharingan in his eyes.

"Fine!" Naruto yelled, a ball of chakra forming in his hands. Sasuke smirked and began channeling chakra into his own hand, the sound of birds chirping filling the air.

The two leapt at each other, the intent to kill in both their eyes when the stairway entrance door opened and a beryl-eyed girl watched in horror. "No!!"

Sakura ran towards the two as they sailed in the air; one holding Rasengan, the other held Chidori. Steps befell the ground as she ran.

'_Almost there,'_ she thought as her skin began to prickle at the tense chakra in the air. "Stop!!" A shadow dwarfed her and the distinct sounds of impact could be heard in the air. Sakura opened her eyes in surprise. "Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi smiled and turned to the boys. He was talking about something, but Sakura couldn't hear what he was saying, she was too engrossed in her thoughts.

'_They almost killed each other! What were they thinking? Do they even care about each other? I thought we were all friends.'_ Tears poured down her face and she felt someone ruffle her hair and she looked up. "Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi smiled down at her. "Don't worry, Sakura. Everything will be fine." he assured and she nodded and wiped away a tear.

* * *

Amaya skidded to a halt on a rooftop as two explosions were seen from the top of the hospital. She could make out the forms of Team 7 on the roof through the chain-link fence and watched as Sasuke and Naruto left. Kakashi smiled and said something to Sakura before leaving the girl alone on the roof. Idly, she wondered how Kakashi couldn't have sensed her chakra, but that wasn't important.

She walked forward, leaning against the edge of the building she stood upon and bit her lip in worry. _'What's going on with your team, Kakashi?'_

* * *

Sakura shifted in her sleep. What was happening? Where was she? There was a figure in the distance. Sasuke-kun? Where was Sasuke-kun going? She could see him walking towards the gate. He had a backpack on and she was saying something to him. What was she saying?

She was shouting something at him. Something about Sasuke leaving. No. Sasuke-kun was leaving? That couldn't be right. This was just a dream, but why did it seem so familiar?

"_If you leave, I'll scream and--"_

Don't leave, Sasuke. Stay. Stay with me. I want you to stay with me. Don't leave me!

"_Arigatou."_

Darkness enveloped her and she shot up. "Sasuke-kun!"

Tears streamed down her face as the dawn greeted her. There was a wind blowing on her face and people watched her as she sat on the bench. She was on a bench.

Sakura looked around. This was where her dream happened, but there were faint dark stains. There were tear stains on the bench and she knew it was no dream. It was real. Sasuke had left. Sasuke had left the village. Sasuke had left her and in the end, her love had not been enough.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned back to see a woman smiling sadly at her, raven hair whipping the wind of the early morning.

Tears stung Sakura's eyes, but she would not let them fall. _'Shinobi code of conduct, rule 25,'_ she thought, refusing to let her emotions show when she felt Amaya press her against her body.

"It's okay, Sakura. You can cry, it's okay," Amaya whispered and Sakura buried her face in Amaya's neck. Rules be damned; it hurt too much.

"Why? Why did he leave? Why couldn't I make him stay? Why wasn't my love enough?!"

Amaya shushed her, calming her as a mother would to her child. Raking her hand through Sakura's pink hair, she pressed her cheek to her head. "Let it all out, Sakura. It's okay to cry," she said as she looked into the approaching dawn.

As they sat on that bench, Amaya had to wonder what it was like to for Sakura to see Sasuke like that. When she did that, she looked to the horizon and a picture of Sasuke appeared. It seemed like he was in a movie, belonging to a world entirely his own when his image became replaced by someone else's. Amaya bit her cheek as the 9-yr-old turned and became 17 and the Sharingan stared her in the face. She could feel her heart wrench and she held Sakura to her further.

So that's how it felt.

'_It sucks,'_ Amaya thought bitterly.

She looked down at the crying girl in her arms and smiled beside herself. In a way, she and Sakura were a lot alike. They were over-emotional—wearing their hearts on their sleeves—they both fell in love with the same kind of guy, and they'd both lost an Uchiha.

And as she stroked Sakura's petal-soft hair, she felt empathy reach for the girl because not only had she lost a lover in one night, she had lost a friend.


	7. Chapter 6

To make up for the short chapter last time, here's explanatory filler!

* * *

Dim lights lined the dark hallway of Anbu Headquarters. Water dripped from the ceiling—no doubt from the Jounin Headquarters above. Two men walked in this hallway, one wearing the standard Anbu uniform and a pair of glasses, the other, a standard jounin uniform and a mask.

The man wearing the glasses paused by a large door and nodded to the Anbu member standing guard and turned to his companion. "Well, here we are, Hatake-san. All personnel files are held here along with mission reports and the background checks. If you don't mind me asking, what are you looking for?"

Kakashi smiled benignly. "Oh, just a small background check on a friend."

The Anbu nodded, reading between the lines of his words, and went back down the hallway. "Make sure to keep things the way you found them, Hatake-san. Lock up once you're done."

Kakashi calmly dodged the kunai and plucked the weapon and the key from the wall. "Arigatou, Ikeda-san." The man merely nodded and disappeared in a plume of smoke at the end of the hall. Kakashi merely chuckled and pulled up his left sleeve. Pressing his old Anbu tattoo to the cold stone, he stepped back to see a small opening revealed to him.

Fitting the key into the lock, he nodded to the Anbu member at the door before stepping inside, darkness meeting his gaze. Holding his oil lantern up, he scanned the book room. This was where all the information of Anbu was kept. Mountains of neatly packed scrolls lined the walls and floors. Above each shelf was a neatly labeled sign: Personnel File, Psych evaluation, Mission Report (organized by captain and date).

Kakashi walked over to the small chair and desk against the right wall and hung his lantern on the metal hook above the desk. Light covered the entire room and Kakashi plucked five scrolls from the shelves: one personnel file, two evaluations, and two mission reports.

He rolled out the personnel file on the flat tabletop and scanned over the information. He had read it once before and finding no changes to the information, looked at the psych evaluations.

These scrolls were tied together, as many of the evaluations were. One before a mission, one after. This information was open to all Anbu members so they could be aware of what situations might make a teammate lose focus or go out of control. Kakashi gently pulled the string binding the two and quickly read over the two scrolls before frowning and rolling them back up. This left two more scrolls. Surprisingly, these scrolls were quite large and tied together. Normally, the only time this occurred was if the mission was long or extremely detailed.

He opened the first scroll and rolled it out on the table. He frowned and stood up to place the lantern on the cherry wood desk before sitting back down. Satisfied with the better lighting, he looked at the mission length beside the person's name.

'_Eight years,'_ he thought in surprise. Studying the paper, he followed the scroll's path, watching it pool over itself on the floor and turned its equally long partner. Sighing slightly, he shifted in his seat and hunched over for his long read.

* * *

Wind swept gently over the village. The streets were near empty. A child with his mother, an elderly woman, and a teenaged girl were the only people. The girl stood in the middle of the street, the wind twirled the short strands of her pink hair as her heart twisted in worry. Suddenly a shadow appeared before her and she looked up in surprise. "Kakashi-sensei."

"Yo," he replied and he looked down at her. "You're worried," he said frowning slightly.

"No, I'm not."

"Liars burn in hell, Sakura," Kakashi reprimanded gently and he could see her shoulders hunch forward as she looked down at the dirt road. Deciding not to press just yet, he looked up at the clear blue sky. "Have you been talking to Amaya-san?"

Sakura looked up, slightly startled. "Huh? Oh…yes," she responded tiredly.

Silence passed between them and he could see her start to frown once more. "You know…Amaya's an orphan."

Sakura looked up, shocked. "Wha?"

"She joined Anbu at thirteen. In order to become Anbu, you need certain qualities. Her parents died when she was four and she showed amazing ability in genjutsu and ninjutsu. Because she had no one to miss her if she died and her extraordinary ability, she was able to join at such a young age."

She looked at her sensei, confusion lacing her soft tone. "How do you know all this?"

"She was placed on my team for six months. I, being her captain, had to know her background and her strengths and weaknesses. In those months, we had few missions and I spent most of the time helping her train in taijutsu. She really needed work in that department."

"But I thought you needed to know all three types of jutsu to be an Anbu member."

"She did. It's just that her ability in taijutsu wasn't bad…but it wasn't good either." At this, a small chuckle escaped his lips at the various positions she'd landed in after he thoroughly beat her into the ground. Sakura nodded in understanding, but looked up, puzzled by something.

"You said she was on your team for six months, but she's still in Anbu. What happened?"

"An Anbu member on another team died and they needed a replacement. Seeing how my team had an extra member, Amaya was transferred to their team and soon after that, she left on an 8-yr Anbu mission," he explained as they walked through the village.

"I was surprised when I read the mission report. You know she had to kill her best friends?"

Sakura's eye widened as she looked up. "What?"

"Her mission was to create a missing nin village. The objective was to gather as many missing nin to one area and get rid of them. The plan was ingenious, but it was time-consuming because you needed to gain their trust. They did and the village was made.

"They had roughly 160 men, 135 women, and 65 children in that village. Once the village was established, the team began gaining the trust of everyone in that village. Even made friends. Amaya befriended two missing nin from Water country. One was named Kenshin and the other was named Sumiko."

"You know that friend she keeps talking about? It was Sumiko. She was a former medic nin in Water before her husband was framed for the murder of a high-ranked official. Kenshin and Sumiko escaped to the village and she and Amaya became fast friends. Sumiko even taught her some techniques from her village. Then something happened."

"What happened?"

"Sumiko's husband was killed in a rock slide. Sumiko was devastated by Kenshin's death, especially when she found out she was pregnant with their daughter, but Amaya helped her and Sumiko was grateful. The child was born and she named it Sachiko and the village lived in peace. At least, until the message came."

"What message?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly.

"The Hokage ordered for the village to be eliminated. The Anbu captain understood. The mission was to be completed and he gathered his team together to discuss the plan."

"What plan?"

Kakashi sighed. "They were to burn the village. The people would panic and in the confusion, they were to kill the people who weren't killed in the fire." He heard Sakura gasp and looked down at the girl before continuing. "Amaya leapt into the fray, killing those she thought as friends and she came upon a house not yet touched by the flames. She went inside and you could guess who came out."

"Sumiko…"

Kakashi nodded. "Sumiko pleaded with Amaya to stop what she was doing. That things did not have to end this way, but Amaya was unmoving and they fought. Sumiko died and Amaya walked into the back room. Sachiko greeted her and she talked to the child before killing her also."

Sakura remained silent.

"I was surprised when I read the report. It said in her evaluation after the mission she was fine, but how did she feel, having to kill her loved ones? I thought she would fall to pieces afterwards because of how frail she was when I first met her, but she's changed. She's gotten stronger since I've last seen her." He turned to girl next to him. "She reminds me of you. You've improved so much since the first time I met you, so why the long face?"

Sakura looked downcast. "It's Naruto. I'm worried about him and I'm worried about Sasuke."

Kakashi buried his hand in her pink locks. "Don't worry. Naruto's strong. Stubborn too. If there's anyone who can get Sasuke back, it's him," he smiled. He let his hand slide from her hair to her shoulder. "Sakura?"

"Yes, sensei?"

"Don't tell anyone about what I just told you. I'm already in deep trouble for telling you classified Anbu information. I might get killed if you do."

Sakura nodded and Kakashi nodded in return before hopping onto the rooftops. She looked behind her as he bounded through Konoha and she gripped her red dress.

"Sensei…"

* * *

Faint scratching could be heard in the office of the fifth Hokage. It was another day of endless paperwork. Really, how had her sensei survived this without going mad? But she remembered his saintly patience and smiled. That was how.

She lifted her pen from the paper and stared out at the view from her window. Things had been quiet since Naruto's absence. How long had it been since he left? Days? Weeks? Maybe—

The door slammed opened, thrusting Tsunade from her thoughts as Shizune panted heavily. "What is it, Shizune?"

"Tsunade-sama. It's Naruto! He's back!"

Tsunade smiled. "He's back?"

Shizune shook her head. "No! I mean, he's in the hospital!" Tsunade frowned deeply and pushed past Shizune. The woman blinked. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" she replied testily. Now was not a time for stupid questions.

* * *

Tension hung thick in the room as people waited for answers. A red light could be seen over a hospital door. Against the walls were benches; a potted plant sat in the corner.

Sakura sat on the bench by the plant as she remembered her visit with Naruto. He was alright. Just barely. When she visited him, he was asleep, but he was bruised and battered; a heart monitor was hooked up to his body.

Tears stung Sakura's eyes. It was all her fault. It was her fault this happened. Neji was toeing the line between life and death, Chouji was in a similar condition, and Naruto was unconscious.

'_If only I didn't ask him to get Sasuke back, none of this would have happened. You stupid girl!'_ she shouted at herself.

The red light turned off and the door slid open. Shikamaru, Tenten, Temari, Kakashi, Lee, Gai, and Sakura held their breath as Tsunade wiped her hands. She looked up, her amber eyes flashing in the luminescent lights of the hospital. "He's…"

Shikamaru held his breath.

"He's alright, thanks to your father's medical scrolls."

Tsunade smiled to Shikamaru. The boy nodded thankfully and Temari smirked at him before walking down the hall as Lee turned to his sensei. "What about Neji?" Before he could answer, Shizune came running down the hall, her eyes wide with excitement. "Tsunade-sama! Neji is alright!" she exclaimed.

Lee smiled brightly with his sensei as Shikamaru thanked the heavens. Sakura and Kakashi smiled while Tenten sighed in relief against the wall, though she couldn't help but wonder the fluttering feeling in her body.

* * *

Clouds rolled overhead in the blue sky. It was summer, or at least the end of it. Four figures stood at a fork in the main road of the busy village. "So, you're going off to train with Jiraiya-sama?" one figure asked.

Naruto nodded. "I won't be back for a while. You're training with Baa-chan, right Sakura?"

Sakura nodded. "Hai, I'm going to train to be a medic. And you two…"

Amaya smiled sadly. "We'll be here," she said, Kakashi nodding behind her.

Amaya walked towards the Kyuubi-container and hugged the young boy. "Be sure to keep warm and stay out of trouble," she told him. Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I'll try."

"Don't worry, I'll keep him out of trouble," a new voice said.

"Jiraiya-sama?" exclaimed Amaya. The man nodded and turned to Kakashi. "I'll take good care of him."

Kakashi bowed. "Hai." Jiraiya smirked and turned to Naruto. "Come on, squirt."

"Hey, I'm not a"— But Jiraiya was already at the gates and Naruto scrambled to run after him.

"Bye Naruto! We'll miss you!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto turned behind him and smiled. "Bye guys! See you in a few years!" he shouted waving. Sakura returned the wave and watched him disappear in the distance before turning to her two other friends.

"Well, I need to go see Tsunade-sama. See you later." Amaya and Kakashi nodded and watched the girl go in the other direction towards the Hokage tower.

Amaya and Kakashi stood there. One minute, maybe five as the hustle and bustle of the village moved around them. Soon, Kakashi looked at her and she turned back. Giving her a small nod, he walked off to be swallowed by the crowd and Amaya was left alone. Turning to look forward once more, she did a few swift hand signs before she disappeared in a puff of smoke, small white sakura petals drifting to the ground signaling her leave.


	8. Chapter 7

I know I'm going to sound like some egotistical girl, but can I get reviews. With only my friend Ryan reviewing, I'm pretty limited in terms of knowing what other people think of my writing and what I can improve on, so if it's not too much trouble, could you review?

* * *

Foliage crunched underfoot as a figure walked through the forest of one of Konoha's training grounds. It was September and the leaves were slowly changing color as the evergreens stayed the same. The figure had to admit, it was beautiful in the fall, made even more so by the contrast between the trees and the grey sky.

They walked further into the training grounds, content with the silence that encompassed them when they spotted someone in the distance. A lone figure sat in the shadow of the stone epitaph that commemorated fallen heroes; the figure didn't have to guess who it was.

"Kakashi-kun!"

The figure turned, a pleasant smile under his mask. "Ohayo, Amaya-chan." Yes, he'd finally stopped calling her "–san." After Naruto left with Jiraiya and Sakura left to become Tsunade's apprentice, Amaya became something like a best friend to him. That and he had fun scamming meals off her, but she'd just catch him later that day to slap him over the head and demand payback. That was probably how they became good friends; easy exchanges with no expectations, just conversations and the steady company of the other.

Amaya sat beside him in the grass, the metallic clatter of her shuriken and ninjaken hitting the ground echoed in the quiet training area. Pulling her knees to her chest, she rested her chin on her knees and looked at him. "So when did you get here, Kakashi-kun?" She'd stopped asking the 'why' after he told her all those years ago when he was her Anbu captain. At the thought of his scowling face with the slight twitch in his brow from all those years ago, she chuckled.

"Oh, around 9 this morning. It helps to beat the crowds. Rarely anybody comes here anymore," he said looking out at the landscape past the stone.

"That's good, right? It means less people are dying," she said cheerfully.

"Yeah…" he answered, his usual light tone gone and she felt a disheartened grim frown pull at her lips. Shaking her head, she stood suddenly and grabbed her ninjaken. "Let's train," she suggested.

Kakashi looked up at her, confused. Just what was she getting at? Then he noticed the look in her eyes and he chuckled as he read in between the lines of her words. She always managed to read his moods. Standing up, he brushed the grass from his pants and gave her a happy eye crease. "Sure."

* * *

A dull 'thunk' was heard as Kakashi let his head fall back against a tree. He panted heavily as he lay against the tree. He was tired, but it helped to know Amaya was feeling the same way. _'Not old yet,'_ he thought with smug satisfaction.

Training had been rigorous. First, it was a taijutsu spar, then a bout of extreme hide-and-seek. _'It's like regular hide-and-seek except it's combined with tag and you can use Bunshins and weapons. The object is to find the other person and tag them. Then they do the same,'_ is what she had told him. Apparently it was a training exercise her team did, but she failed to mention it would require him to actually pin something to her body. The score was 3:2. She'd won, but he'd lasted longer than her in hiding. Plus, he'd managed to kick her ass in the taijutsu. _'I still got it,'_ he thought smugly.

Shaking his head slightly at his cocky attitude, he remembered what they had done after lunch. She asked him to do sword training. Though he hadn't had to wield a ninjaken in years, he agreed, though it led to a small problem…

_Flashback_

"_How am I supposed to help you train if I don't have my ninjaken with me?" Kakashi asked as he turned the page of Icha Icha Paradise, munching a piece of saury behind his book. _

_Amaya smiled as she popped a slice of rolled egg into her mouth from her o-bento. "That's easy." Placing the lacquered box in the grass, she stood and fished around her outfit for a scroll. _

_Excitement passed her eyes before she retrieved a small scroll from a small pocket in her clothing. Unraveling it, she made a few hand signs and placed a bit of her blood on the paper. Suddenly a ninjaken appeared from the parchment and she smiled at his surprised expression. _

"_What? I can't exactly go around carrying two swords in the open, now can I?" _

_Kakashi merely grunted and swiped a tomato slice from her o-bento. She scowled and he smiled benignly._

"_What?"_

_End flashback_

Kakashi's gaze strayed to her glove. Though his own uniform had its own share of cuts and slashes, it wasn't as bad as hers. Her pants looked like someone had fed it into a lawnmower.

She wore black pants. Probably made from the same material that his undershirt was made of, that, or leather. She also wore a black spaghetti-strap tank top, a pair of Anbu gloves, black sandals, and her Anbu gear.

"_I always have a set of Anbu armor with me," she said as she waved around a scroll in her hand._

His eyes scanned her over and he noticed her black sandals and it reminded him of her revealing tank top. He frowned slightly. _'She shouldn't wear something so revealing. Besides, it's cold today.'_ But he soon mentally slapped himself. Why should he care what she wore? She was a grown woman. As he felt something poke his shoulder, he turned to see her innocently prodding his shoulder.

"Can I help you with something?" he drawled. She smiled.

"Just making sure you were still alive," she said. If she noticed him staring at her, she didn't say anything.

Amaya shifted against the tree, trying to find a comfortable spot before arching her back gracefully and popped a few joints in her spine. Sighing in content, she lazed about from her spot under the tree before glancing at her companion. "So I heard you looked at my personnel files." He tensed, just for a second, but she still saw it. "Find anything interesting?" she asked blandly.

"…No," he replied turning the page.

"Liar," she snorted.

"I'm not lying," Kakashi reassured as he turned the page. That was a lie, like how he kept turning the pages of Icha Icha. He hadn't read any of it since this conversation started, but at least he could look busy.

"Liars burn in hell, Kakashi-kun," she said airily.

"Well, I did find out about that mission…" he trailed off and she looked down sadly.

"Oh. _That_ mission." She gazed out at the treetops. A bird cawed overhead before she turned to him. "How did you even get into the book room?"

"I still have my connections," he said lacing his fingers behind his head, Icha Icha tucked in his back pocket safely. Amaya seemed pleased because she didn't ask anything for a while, but her eyes became distant. "You know Sumiko said I could've stopped and she'd forgive me."

"I know."

"You know I killed my godchild?"

"Yes, I know."

"You know I haven't cried since then?"

Kakashi turned his head. "What?"

"Yeah. Me, the overemotional kunoichi. Crazy, right?"

"You know when I rescued the documents, I put them in a box they made for me. It's sitting on my desk."

"I thought that wasn't allowed," he said looking at nothing.

"It isn't, but I rescued the important documents in it. The Sandaime let me keep it."

"You realize…if someone links it to the village and you, you'll have to burn it."

"I know…" she said sadly. The wind blew at her braid and she sighed and pulled the hair tie and ruffled her hair out of the braid. Content with her hair now flowing about her shoulders, she looked at the swallow's nest in the tree across from her. "You know, I have all these gifts from them in that box too."

"Oh really?" he asked noncommittally.

"Yeah. Sumiko's wedding picture. Kenshin and Sumiko's wedding rings. Sachiko's favorite doll. Some letters. Some photos." She sighed heavily. "Those were happier times."

"Happiness never lasts long," he admitted sadly and she nodded in agreement. Happiness never lasted long.

'_It comes and goes like the rain.'_

She followed his gaze to the stone epitaph where his friends' names were on there. Idly, she wondered if they should engrave Itachi's name on there, but she shook her head. Even if he was dead to her now, he didn't actually die. He also didn't deserve the title of a hero fallen in battle, but a little voice in her head said otherwise. Damn her traitorous mind.

"You know, I used to like someone," she said all of a sudden. Apparently, her mind had enlisted her mouth too.

"Really?" he asked, curious.

She sighed, a wistful look in her eyes. "Yeah. I looked up to him as a hero and things got weird and soon, I fell in love with him."

"Seriously?"

She laughed. "Yeah, seriously. I said I'd give my life for him. I still would."

"Really?" he asked, his gaze never straying from the epitaph. He shifted his legs, one leg stretched forth as he rested his elbow on a bent knee. "Did he know?" he asked making a small motion with his hands.

"No. I left before I could tell him, which was sort of a mixed blessing for me."

"Hn. Does he still remember you?" he asked. Just who was this person? Was it someone he knew? Damn his sense of curiosity.

"I don't know, really. Maybe."

Kakashi turned to her, his charcoal eye on her face. "Do you still remember him?" he asked.

Amaya turned her head and smiled reminiscently, lost in her memories. "Yes. He was my first love, and besides…" A gloved hand reached out and gently brushed over his clothed cheek. "It's hard to forget a loved one."

And with that, he froze and she smiled sadly at him before standing to gather her gear and leaving the training ground. At the sad smile on her face and the soft look in her eyes, he let his head fall back against the tree once more, wondering the simple, yet complex question of, _'Why?'_

* * *

"So, here you are," Amaya said, frowning as she tapped her foot on the roof of the Hokage tower.

Kakashi looked up from his book. "Oh. You were looking for me?"

An anger mark appeared on her head as her mouth twitched. He was definitely in for it. "You ass! You skipped out on the bill again!"

"Oh. I did? Well, you see—"

"Don't 'you see' me!" she snapped and he flinched at her tone. "You've been doing this to me for two-and-a-half years now! I let the first few times slide, but you're draining my bank account."

"But Anbu missions pay so much better than jounin ones," he reasoned.

"Says the man who went on three Anbu missions with me in this past year. You and I both know you have more than enough money for you to foot the bill at least once," she huffed.

"I'm just saving up for a rainy day," he smiled and she snorted. "Unless that rainy day has enough water to turn Suna into an ocean, I suggest you pay me back," she glowered.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and reached into his back pocket and threw her the needed amount. "Thank you. Was that so hard?" she asked, counting her cash.

"Yes."

"Cheapskate," she muttered.

"I heard that."

"Well, if you knew I was going to hunt your ass afterwards, why go through with skipping the bill?" she asked tucking the cash in her own wallet.

Kakashi looked up at her from his book, a happy eye crease already on his face. "And miss out on our lovely conversations?"

She folded her arms over her chest and huffed. "Jerk."

"I love you too," he said as he lazily turned the page. He heard a clatter on the roof and sighed before preparing for the conversation ahead. Why did women like to talk so much?

"So why are you here, Kakashi-kun?"

"I was trying to find a quiet place to read, but there seems to be an annoying fly buzzing around me. I better keep searching."

"Haha, but seriously, why are you here?" she asked.

"Tsunade-hime wanted me to do something for her, but when I went over to talk to her, she sent me out here."

"So you have no idea why you're on the roof of the Hokage tower reading a hentai novel?"

He turned a page. "Nope, but who am I to argue with the Hokage?" he smiled and she rolled her eyes. "Men."

"Women." And he smiled happily as he read, ignoring the fuming female at his side when he heard the window slide open. The two of them looked behind them.

"Kakashi-sensei? Amaya-chan?"

"Naruto-kun!"

"Yo."

Naruto moved aside and watched the two easily slip in through the window. "You've grown, Naruto. You too, Sakura," Kakashi commented.

Amaya watched the exchange in silence, only breaking it after watching the comical outburst Kakashi had after receiving the newest installment of Icha Icha. How a full-grown man could act like this over a book was beyond her, but then again, this was Kakashi.

"Amaya-chan, are you coming?"

She blinked. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I wasn't paying attention."

"We asked if you were going to come with us when Kakashi tests us again. Dattebayo!" Amaya smiled at Naruto. It was nice to see him back. She had missed him in the years he had left to train with Jiraiya. She stood up and dusted her pants. "Hai hai."

"Are you going to help Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. Amaya shook her head and chuckled. "I'll just watch."

* * *

"…It was a very good show to say the least."

"Shut up," Kakashi glowered as he and his companion walked under the streetlights of Konoha. Night had fallen and the two were walking away from grabbing a quick dinner at a soba shop. Amaya smiled.

"Come on, you have to admit that it was funny. They beat you…with Icha Icha."

"It's not funny."

"You were shutting your eyes and clamping your hands over your ears trying to block it out while they swiped the bells."

He glared at her. "They were going to ruin a perfectly good book for me," he defended.

"And your obsession was your downfall. The fact you were beaten with perverted literature is hilarious!" she laughed.

"I don't find it funny."

"Well, you have no sense of humor," she said dryly as she danced in the street. Victory was sweet.

He huffed and dug out his newest volume of Icha Icha to read, eliciting further laughter from his female friend. "And how old are we turning this year? Five? Ten?"

"23, which makes you 28. We should start preparing a place for you at a retirement home now, ne?"

"Watch it," he glowered over his book and Amaya quelled a shiver. That was the look he used on an enemy nin when they pissed him off. She huffed. "Fine. Jeez, way to be touchy. I'll have you know that some women actually prefer older men."

"Great, but I'm not an older man."

"But you're older than me," she pointed out.

"Well, I'm not an _old_ older man."

"Sure…" she said rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, are you sure you're turning 23?"

"Fine, I'll shut up now."

* * *

Naruto walked around the gates of Konoha as he clasped his hands at the back of his neck. It was early in the morning. Well, not exactly early since the sun had risen hours ago, but it was still early. "When are they going to get here?" he yawned.

"When who gets here?" a voice asked. Naruto jumped and Sakura smiled. "Hi Amaya-chan."

Amaya smiled and nodded and Naruto stared at her quizzically. "Ne, Amaya-chan, why are you here?"

"I'm coming with you," she answered. "I got Tsunade to pull a few strings and I'm going to get Sasuke back with you."

"What about your team?" Sakura asked. Amaya waved dismissively. "Eh, they'll be fine without me. Besides, it's our downtime and we're not going on any missions at the moment."

"Oh."

"So who are these people we're waiting for?"

"Aika?"

Naruto and Sakura stared quizzically at the man as Amaya turned and gasped. The man was tall and had dark colored hair, but there was something strange about him. He wore something on his face that looked reminiscent of what the second Hokage wore. Amaya blinked. "Yamato?"

"Aika! It is you! How have you been?" the man asked.

"Okay. Back is a pain from sleeping on the rocks all the time," she admitted.

"Yeah, don't I know it?" he chuckled, laughing even harder as she glared at him with the muttering of 'liar'. Naruto and Sakura looked between them in confusion. It was like the first time they met her. She would always talk like she'd known them for years and pulling up memories while she left them in the dust.

"Ne, Amaya-chan, do you know Yamato-san?" Sakura asked.

"And who the hell's Aika?" he asked.

"Yeah. We see each other in Anbu sometimes and Aika is my code name on missions." she answered.

'_Nightly rain to love song. Interesting'_ thought Sakura idly. Suddenly she realized something. "Where's Sai?"

"Sai?" Amaya asked quizzically.

"Yeah, he's the guy who's supposed to replace Sasuke-teme," Naruto said sadly and Amaya sighed sadly before she felt a kunai to her throat. "Sai, you can stop."

The raven-haired male retracted his weapon. He wore a half-shirt that exposed his abdomen and he wore a pack on his back, she saw paintbrushes peek out from it. He had raven hair, pale skin, and obsidian eyes; he looked so much like who he was to replace. It was sad. Sai bowed politely. "Aika."

"Sai," she said returning the gesture. The dark-haired painter known as Sai nodded and went over to talk to Yamato as Amaya went over to Sakura. "So why is Yamato here?"

"He's replacing Kakashi-sensei while he recuperates in the hospital," she answered, watching a flicker of worry pass over Amaya's face. "He's alright, but he overused the Sharingan."

Amaya shook her head. "He was always stubborn," she mused and Sakura laughed with her. It was nice for her to have someone to talk about girl things with.

Yamato slung on his pack and turned to his team. "Ready to go?" And with a nod from his team, the gates opened and they walked out of the village, their packs on their backs and the wind in their hair.


	9. Chapter 8

There's a lemon this chapter, so if you want to keep your mind clean, skip to the absolute bottom.

* * *

Amaya traced pictures in the dust that covered the windows of the Gondaime's office. She, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai had been called here by the Hokage for an important meeting and here they were, waiting. Idly, she thought that Tsunade should get someone to clean the office, but if she were to say anything, she was likely to be stuck with the job. Then again, the janitors might be coming by anytime soon. It was a large building, after all.

Amaya sighed and put the finishing touches on a flower she drew in the dust. It was reminiscent of a tulip in its structure, but the tips of the petals drew to a point and inside were the three stamen. She drew another one, but the flower was open, fully blossomed. Beneath it, she drew grass and sighed reminiscently. These were flowers that she and Sachiko picked once. Sachiko had gotten her an entire bouquet of the flowers. The flowers were all light colors: white tinted with blues, purples, pinks, and greens. Inside, the stamens were gold and they had small black dots on the petal. They had a smell that was slightly fragrant and slightly sweet. Amaya thought they were beautiful, Sachiko thought they reminded her of Amaya.

Amaya smiled as she drew a rolling hill with a tree behind her flowers and remembered her godchild's smiling face. Her fingers drew a final branch and moved to the sky. She had started the curve of the sun and thought of Sachiko's face and Sumiko with a smile, but she remembered Sachiko's decapitated body and the blood staining her hands and her face darkened. What was once the sun became a storm cloud. Amaya dragged her fingers on the glass, creating drops of rain before wiping the dust off the window and destroying the landscape.

'_And the rain blocked out the sun and drowned the flowers, leaving destruction in its wake.'_

The door suddenly opened and they all looked up to see Tsunade. Sakura went to talk to her sensei about something, but the woman waved her apprentice to a chair in the room and she sat between Sai and Naruto. Sai held the woman's gaze steadily and Naruto fidgeted slightly in her chair. Amaya simply pushed away from the window to lean against the wall.

Tsunade sat at her desk, gazing around the room with a steady eye as she took in the faces of the occupants. Sakura had a calm look on her face, but her fingers played with her skirt, showing her nervousness. Naruto fidgeted openly and stood from his seat to stand against the wall opposite Amaya near the door. Amaya seemed like she was eons away in another place by the distant look in her eyes and Tsunade wondered what she was thinking about. She could never really tell what Anbu were thinking. They were taught to hide all thoughts and feelings and they were taught well. Though her eyes showed her emotion, her mind was guarded too well. Idly, she realized Sai was looking around the room, bored, and turned to the door. "You can let them in now, Shizune."

The dark-haired woman opened the door and nodded before going inside, two men following after her before she closed the door and took her spot behind the Hokage.

Naruto looked up from his place against the wall. "Kakashi-sensei? Yamato-san?" he asked. "What are you guys doing here? Do we have a mission?"

Kakashi shook his head and gazed at them seriously, professionalism radiating off his body in waves. "I called you all here to tell you that from this day on, I am no longer the leader of Team 7. I'm relinquishing command to Yamato while I take command of Team 10."

Sakura shot from her chair as Amaya and Naruto pushed away from the wall. "WHAT?!"

"Your new team leader will be Yamato," Kakashi repeated. Naruto shook his head as Sakura looked down to try and comprehend his words. "You can't do this!" Naruto shouted.

"Yes, I can. I've already discussed it with Tsunade and Yamato."

"So you're just telling us now?!" shouted Amaya indignantly.

"As I recall, you were never a true part of Team 7, so this does not apply to you, Amaya-san," he said coldly. "I'd be of better use to the village by hunting members of the Akatsuki since your skills have improved so much and also, Naruto, Yamato would be a better teacher for you while you create your jutsu. Understand?"

Naruto sank into a chair and Sakura bit her lip, but they both managed a nod as Sai gave one of his own. From the corner of Kakashi's eye, he saw Amaya move and saw her try once more to convince him to stay with the team and he shot her a look and watched her bite her lip and look away. Satisfied, he turned to Yamato and nodded. Yamato nodded back and Kakashi walked out the door without as much as a goodbye.

* * *

Footsteps trudged through the dirt of a road, kicking up dust. The owner of the footsteps simply waved the dust from her face as she began to rub the sore muscles of her shoulders and sighed. She had just gotten back from an Anbu mission two weeks ago and was released from the hospital a few days ago. She had just gotten finished with a training session with her team before her captain gave her the rest of the weekend off.

The woman smiled happily to herself at her luck as she walked to her small apartment when she heard the faint clinking of glasses and turned her head to one of the shinobi hangouts, an unnamed bar (the sign seemed to have disappeared). As she walked towards her abode, her stomach growled and she covered it in embarrassment. There was no need to, seeing how she was the only one out on the road at the moment, but she did it anyway. Turning her to the bar, she peered at the window in debate when her stomach set off again. _'Maybe a quick bite won't hurt. Besides, I forgot to go grocery shopping anyway.'_ And she set off for the entrance.

* * *

Genma threw his head back and laughed as he sat in his seat and reached for the sake sitting in the middle of his table. He was at one of the booths of the Kyo's Bar. It was a nice place. Easy to remember since the guy who owned the bar was named Kyo and there was always sake and at least someone you knew, so you never had to drink alone—not that Genma drank alone. He always found a female companion to drink with (and go to bed with, if sleeping actually got done), but today was different. Today, he was sitting with his drinking buddies.

As Raidou chatted with Kurenai and Anko while Kakashi poured more sake into his cup while ignoring Gai, Genma spotted someone just coming into the establishment.

"Amaya!" he shouted over the various conversation and sound of glass clinking together. The woman looked up, saw his waving hand, and gave a wave of her own before walking over. "Hi Genma," she smiled.

"Hey doll," he smiled as she giggled at the name. Doll, when had anyone ever called her that? "What are you doing? I don't normally see you around here."

"Oh, I was just on my way home from training and I decided to get a bite to eat here before I went home," she answered.

"Why don't you stay for a bit and you can just come home with me later?"

"No thanks, Genma," she declined.

"But seriously, why don't you hang with us?"

Amaya blinked. "Eh? Seriously, Anko?"

Anko laughed. "Yeah, sure. The more, the merrier. Scoot over, Gai." Gai scooted over and Amaya sat down at the booth. Genma waved a waitress over and asked for another bottle while Amaya asked for an order of food and a glass of water.

As the night wore on and the jounin were steadily getting drunker, Genma noticed something. "Hey Amaya, how come you're not drunk yet?"

"Because it's the power of her youth!" slurred Gai drunkenly.

Anko scoffed. "She's 24, she isn't that young. No offense."

"None taken." Yup, a year had passed. To be honest, this was the first time she'd seen Kakashi since he became the leader of team 10, but a while later, Kakashi and his new team found the remains of a battlefield and news came that Hebi had suddenly retreated (most likely since Sasuke was injured badly by his battle with Deidara and needed to recover). As Hebi disappeared into the shadows (probably rethinking their strategies) and with Akatsuki activity at a crawl, Konoha was now at some sort of a standstill and Kakashi was a free man.

"So what's your secret?"

Amaya blinked. "Sorry, Kurenai. I wasn't paying attention."

Kurenai chuckled and smiled. "It's alright," she said patiently. She had to be. She had a pair of twins after all (boy and girl), but then again, Kurenai had always been patient.

Amaya raised her glass. "It's just water," she admitted sheepishly.

"Get out of here," said Genma.

"I'm serious. Here, smell." She handed Genma her glass and sure enough, it was water.

"Amaya, you're at a bar for Kami's sake! You don't need to just drink water. I mean, it's not like you have a mission tomorrow," Anko said loudly, the others just nodded in agreement.

Amaya shrugged. "It's not that. I just don't drink because I never did before." She looked at the incredulous faces of the various jounin around her and blinked. "What?"

"You just said you never drank before," Raidou stated incredulously.

"Yes. And?"

"You have got to be kidding me! There is no way you could be an Anbu member and not have had a sip sometime!" shouted Anko.

"Well, I managed somehow," Amaya said taking a sip of her water. Taking a cue from the girl, the group calmed down and began talking amongst themselves once more, Kakashi adding a grunt when he deemed fit and Genma grabbed the communal bottle before a sparkle entered his eyes. Stealthily pouring sake into an empty glass and switching it with the water, he watched as Amaya grabbed the glass of "water" and down the rest of it (which was about half the glass), before setting it down once more.

* * *

Kakashi sat in relative silence at his table as he watched Anko talk about her latest conquest, nodding politely every now and again. Really, all he wanted was a quiet night at home with his latest book, but Genma had pulled him out of his apartment to go drinking. Once at the bar, he couldn't refuse the free sake being given to him.

As the night wore on and the tingling in his body increase as his sobriety did just the opposite, he didn't really mind being dragged out of his apartment. He was actually enjoying himself, but then Amaya came into the door and he couldn't decide whether to run or sit and be confused as to why she was there. For as long as he'd known her, she was—to put it bluntly—a bit of a prude. As for wanting to run, he knew he had acted coldly to her when he left command to Yamato, but there was no way he as going to let her try to undermine his authority and make him stay with Team 7.

As he let his gaze roam the table, the familiar tingling of the alcohol in his system as he scanned the faces, he noticed Amaya's eyes were glazed over and her face was flushed. He watched her try to stand up and watched as she fell on her butt on the floor and began to laugh and realized Genma had switched her water with alcohol. He rolled his eyes and drank another cup of the rice wine at the table and stopped Genma from getting up when he spoke. "I'll get her home."

Genma looked up and looked at his friend quizzically as his friend moved from his seat. "She lives by me and I should get back anyway. Got a mission report due tomorrow and I haven't finished."

Genma nodded, noticing the slight slur in his voice and the slight stumble as he left the booth. Translation: Kakashi was drunk. He wasn't hammered-drunk, but he wasn't that sober either. He also knew Kakashi didn't have a mission report due the next morning, but rather than waste his time arguing with him, he simply nodded and watched the man help the woman to her feet and walked her out the bar.

Genma turned to his friends. "What's up with him?"

"Probably thought you were going to rape the girl if you took her home," Anko said with a saucy smile and an amused glint in her eye.

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Actually, now that I think about it, having Hatake take her home was probably for the best," Raidou said thoughtfully.

"Hey!" And the table began to argue, the two forgotten in the smoke billowing in the bar and the smell of sake.

* * *

Kakashi walked with Amaya in the dim lights of the houses above. More correctly, he was walking as he supported the girl who was leaning heavily on his shoulder. After managing to get her to walk out of the bar, she stumbled on her feet only two blocks away. Suddenly feeling the weight on his shoulder slip, he just only managed to realize she was falling. He grabbed her arm deftly and pulled her back up.

"Can you walk?"

She obviously found something funny about his question because she started to laugh and tell him how funny he was. Sighing, he picked her up, one arm behind her shoulder and one under her bent knees and began walking to her apartment. Suddenly, her weight shifted again and he moved his arms just in time to catch her and mentally chastised himself for drinking so much. His reaction time was dulled. If he got attacked now, they would both be dead.

He felt Amaya shift her head, her nose burying in the crook of his neck as her arms wound around his neck and noticed his hand was resting on her curved bottom. He tried to move it, but his hand instead squeezed and a sigh left her lips before they accidently brushed over his covered pulse and he bit back a groan. Slowly, he began to realize things like how her breasts were pressed against his chest just so, how close his fingers were to her womanhood, like how the curve of her backside was just inches away from something he was now trying desperately to ignore.

Picking up the pace, they quickly arrived at her apartment door. He could've gone, but he wanted to make sure she didn't just collapse on her doorstep and so, he let her down and bit back a groan at the loss of her heat as she placed her feet on her doorstep.

Her fingers reached up and he watched them dip into the front of her black spaghetti-strap tank top and trail down a metallic chain. Why hadn't he noticed that before? Her finger delved down the front of her shirt and he felt a lump in his throat form as she pulled out a key and felt his pants tighten a bit more as the metal brushed against the top swell of her breast and watched the small shiver that wracked her body.

Amaya turned to her door slowly and removed the chain from her neck. Pulling her hair away, she exposed the back of her neck as she let her hair fall over her left shoulder and pushed the key in and turned the lock and pulled it from the keyhole. She turned, not knowing how much longer she could keep the alcohol haze from her brain and began to speak. "Thanks, Kakashi for walking…me…"

He was close. She could feel his breath brushing lightly against the tip of the shell of her ear and smell the lingering scent that made him Kakashi. Sandalwood and…something else…something sweet…the forest? The rain? She looked up, slightly dazed as she saw his eyes looking into hers. Her breath hitched. When had he gotten so close?

"K-Kakashi?"

And lips crashed into hers and she closed her eyes at the warmth that flowed through her.

* * *

"K-Kakashi?"

And he crashed his lips upon hers. He hadn't meant to kiss her, but the way she looked at him and the way her lips were slightly open and how she said his name breathlessly made her look so vulnerable and the animalistic urge to claim thrummed through his body.

His hands moved to the small of her back and she eagerly pressed against him and a low moan left his lips at how their bodies were pressed together and it made him remember how long it had been since he had last had a woman.

She shifted her hips in answer to the nibbling of her earlobe and they both echoed a hiss. He needed to get to her bed. He needed to get these damn clothes off and bury himself in her. He needed her heat.

He tore down his mask and reached behind her and opened the door as he plundered her mouth and she let out a heady moan. He pushed her in and closed the door with his foot before he grabbed the key from her hands and threw it away from her before shrugging off his vest and tugging furiously at her clothes.

With every inch of skin exposed, he could feel his lust replace the alcohol that fogged his brain. He felt her fling his hitai-ate off and try to pull his shirt over his head. He nipped her bare shoulder. They'd fuck, but on his terms.

He reached for the zipper at the back of her black skirt as her hands buried themselves in his hair. She felt the fabric slide from her body and felt his hands push hers to the waistline of his pants. She pulled them down and felt his leg rub against hers as he kicked them off before moving for the shirt. Flinging it over his head, she stepped away.

They were both panting heavily: Kakashi in nothing but his boxers; Amaya in nothing but her bindings and a pair of black lace panties. Kakashi smiled approvingly at her choice in underwear before walking towards her, purpose in his every step and delighted in her tentative gaze and the steps she took backwards until the back of her knees connected with the bed and fell backwards.

He moved slowly, crawling over her body and pulled her up higher and smiled to himself at her surprised cry as he kneaded her breasts through her cotton bindings. He felt her hands grip the comforter under her and smirked against her breast as he sucked them through the cotton and she cried out, but he needed more. He needed to see them.

Reaching behind her, he grabbed the kunai on her nightstand and cut them in the middle and smiled at her surprised gasp and at the rosy buds that became exposed to his eyes. As he latched onto one nipple, teasing the other one with his hand, he smiled against her breast at every gasp and moan that left her lips and stroked his ego, but he wasn't done yet.

One hand trailed down her smooth skin, surprisingly flawless for an active Anbu member, and stopped at the hem of her panties. He teased her, trailing the band as the scent of her arousal reached his nose, never stopping the ministrations of his other hand and mouth.

His fingers skated lower, down to her clothed core and dragged his finger up against it, lust raging in his loins as she arched against him and cried out. He felt her fingers graze his shoulders and she lifted her hips as he pulled her panties off her. Grinding into her bare center, she cried out his name and he began to kiss her skin. She whimpered as his lips kissed inch by painful inch of her skin, her breaths coming out in pants as he went closer to her area of need.

"K-Kakashi?" she panted and he gave her a dark smile before licking her core.

Amaya arched her hips and closed her eyes as his mouth continued to do things she had only heard about. She panted when he thrust his tongue into her center, cried out when he kissed her bundle of nerves, and let out a keening moan as he shoved a finger into her core.

Kakashi watched as his finger thrust in and out of her body, drinking in her heady moans and the flushed look on her face as she gazed at him with darkened eyes before placing another finger besides the first, then another and watched as she bucked her hips against his. Her muscles grabbed at his fingers wildly and he quickly pulled them away before she could reach her peak.

She watched behind lowered lids as he pulled off his boxers and flung them across the room. She looked at him and her eyes widened. "Kakashi, Kakashi, I-I—Ahh!"

Kakashi gritted his teeth as her scalding hot center gripped at him and froze as she let out a cry of pain. He looked up, startled as the lust began to clear and he saw tears in her eyes. "You're a—?"

"I was never put into a position where I had to use my body. I always got the job done before it got that far," she admitted in embarrassment.

'_So that's why her skin was so flawless.'_

And so, he lay there in wait. Removing himself was not an option, not when she held him so tightly in her womb and a desire that demanded to be sated flowed through his veins. His control was hanging by a thread and he was too far gone to go back.

Her hips moved against his and he began to move his hips once more, listening to the heartbeat in his head while her pants and mews began again. It was not long before they moved as one, both desperately seeking the release to this pent-up lust.

Sweat rolled down both their bodies and he groaned as she kissed and nipped at his neck and shoulders. He felt her inner muscles grab at him and hissed before crushing his lips to hers as he quickened his thrusts. She moaned in response and pulled at his hair as she felt the coil pull tighter and tighter before snapping and she cried out his name.

Amaya's eyes shot open and her head pulled away from his kiss as she arched her back and screamed his name in ecstasy. As colors flashed before her eyes, she heard a groan and felt heat splash inside her before she felt her heartbeat slowly return to normal and heard his harsh breathing in her ear. She felt him roll off her and her lids become heavy as she looked upon his features. She saw something flicker across them, but sleep beckoned to her and she followed obediently.

The next morning, she woke up to an empty bed.

* * *

Kakashi sat in the shade of a large tree. He was in one of the training grounds. Number nine, or at least that's what he thought. It was quiet, surprising seeing how it was 11 in the morning, but he liked it like this. It gave him a nice place to read.

Kakashi let his gaze flit over the words of his book and shifted his back to salvage what was left of his spine from the knot in the tree before sighing contentedly and turning the page. Just then, a shadow appeared.

"Hatake-san."

"Amaya," he replied to the woman in her Anbu uniform.

"I've been looking for you," she said coolly, her mask hanging on the side of her face.

"Really?" he drawled. Flip. Another page.

"Yes."

"Have any trouble finding me?" he asked blandly and noticed how her hand gripped the hilt of her sword. Hmm, she had a katana this time.

"I've been trying to find you for three days," she said through clenched teeth.

"You don't say…what for?"

"You know."

Kakashi looked up and blinked. "No. No, I don't think so." And he ducked his head as bark flew from a newly made gash in the side of the tree. Her sword rested inside its sheath. "You bastard; you know we need to talk," she glowered.

"No, we don't," he replied calmly as he turned the page.

"Yes, we do." Letting out a sigh, she sank down in front of him on the branch. "Kakashi, I need to know if that was a one-time thing or what," she pleaded.

Kakashi sat there for a minute, as if weighing his words, carefully choosing how to say what he was going to say. He sighed. "Amaya-chan, we were both drunk that night and…and I took you home and…it was a mistake."

"What was the mistake?" she asked.

She reached forward, gripping his hand in her gloved one. "Kakashi, what was the mistake?"

"…I…I…" He turned away. "I think you should stop associating with me. You should go; you already have a team," he said removing her hand from his.

He watched her stare at him, her mouth gaping as she tried to comprehend his words. Slowly, she began to understand. She sat up straight, her mouth closed and her body tense. She stood up slowly, her eyes narrowed in disdain as she looked at him. He gave no reaction.

She adjusted the katana on her hip and placed her hand on her mask. She held it centimeters from her face, not turning her head from the village as she spoke. "'Those in the ninja world who break the rules and regulations are called trash, but those who don't care about their companions... are even lower than trash.' Wasn't that what you told me?"

She turned her head, her eyes cold as she looked at him with disgust and disdain. "You hypocrite."

And she bounded through the trees without so much as a goodbye and Kakashi sat there for a minute, staring into the greenery surrounding him before lifting up his book and picking up where he left off.


	10. Chapter 9

Very late in delivery, I know, but I kind of forgot about this story. Now that I remember that this story exists, I promise to update more regularly.

* * *

It was Sunday. Outside Ichiraku, children played in the streets, running around the obstacles in their path as they played. Inside Ichiraku, Naruto listened to Sakura talk about the latest thing she learned from Tsunade when he noticed something. Slurping a noodle, he looked up and asked, "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, where's Amaya-chan?" Sakura stopped talking and looked at her old teacher. She was wondering that too.

When Kakashi didn't reply, Naruto tried again. "Ne, sensei?"

Kakashi stood up abruptly. "I just remembered I have a mission report due. Sorry guys. I'll see you later."

The two were so stunned by his hasty exit, they failed to notice the fact he had actually left money to pay for his share of the bill.

-

-

Amaya sat inside her apartment, pouring over the scroll in her hands and picked up her brush as she made various corrections to her mission report. Suddenly, a knock came at her door. She ignored it, choosing to listen to the rock music coming out of her radio and correct a character instead. Another knock and she furrowed her brows as she tried to remember what she had done for her part of the mission. Suddenly a rapid succession of knocks came at her door and she sighed irritably.

"Alright! I'm coming! I'm coming!"

Tying her hair back in a ponytail, she reached a bandaged arm forward and opened the door. "Damn it Hikaru, I already told you, no, I don't have your—oh. Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan…I thought you were someone else."

"N-no problem," Sakura replied, making a mental note not to get the woman before her angry. Her temper was almost as volatile as hers.

"Man, you scream loud," Naruto interjected.

"Sorry; just tired from my latest mission. So what can I do for you?" she asked, leaning her bandaged forearms against the doorframe.

"Ne Amaya-chan, what's going on with you and Kakashi-sensei? Why aren't you with us anymore?" the blonde asked and Amaya snorted. "Why don't you ask your sensei?" she replied bitterly. At the stunned faces, she sighed. "Sorry about this, but can you guys go? I feel really beat right now."

"A-alright," Sakura replied.

"Get some rest, Amaya-chan," Naruto said and waved until she shut the door before turning to Sakura. "Ne, Sakura-chan, what do you think happened between them?"

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, we have to do something," Naruto declared. Sakura blinked at him in shock. "What? Naruto. It's between the two of them and we don't have any right to interfere in—"

Hands gripped her shoulders and Sakura looked up at Naruto. "Sakura-chan, you can't tell me that you're okay with the two of them acting this way."

Sakura slapped his hands away. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course I don't like the two of them like this, but…"

"But what?"

Sakura paused and looked over her shoulder at him before sighing and walking down the hall. "If they find out we're trying to get them to make up, I'm pinning it on you."

Naruto blinked before letting a smile cross his face. "Alright, Sakura-chan! Hey…wait a minute. Sakura-chan, you aren't serious, right? Right?!"

-

-

Kakashi nervously tugged on the collar of his dress shirt as he sat at the table of the restaurant, Shiro Mizu. It was five-star establishment and the only one of its kind in Konoha. Really, he had no idea why he was there. Why was he there again? Oh right, Sakura said she had something to talk about, but here?!

He sank back into his chair and watched the melting wax of the candle. He scanned the faces around him, mostly nobles and civilians that could afford to be here. Suddenly, the candle's flame flickered and he looked up to see Amaya's face glowering at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to meet Sakura."

"I'm here to meet Naruto," she replied coldly as she sat in her chair when the two looked up in realization. "Kuso," cursed Amaya.

"They tricked us and they made sure we couldn't go at each other's throat by putting us in a situation that would damage our reputation as ninja."

"They're good," Amaya said idly.

"They should be. I taught them."

"Arrogant bastard," Amaya muttered under her breath as she placed the cloth napkin in her lap. Kakashi sighed from across the table. "How do you think we became this way?" he asked.

"We slept together and then you told me to basically get the fuck out of your life and leave you alone or is your old age finally affecting your memory?" she snapped, her hands folded in her lap and her head held high, looking like the perfect example of a lady.

"No, I think it was when you tried to undermine my authority and are you sure you're twenty-three?" he asked.

"I'm twenty-four, you ass," she snapped once more, daring him to say something else to set her off.

Kakashi soaked in the words and let out a sigh. "So it's been a year since we really talked, then," he said, more to himself than anything.

"If you don't count the one we had two months ago, then yes. That was the last time we really talked," she said bitterly, her eyes flashing in the candlelight.

A waiter came by with their orders and dinner commenced in a tense silence. At dessert, Kakashi noticed something. "You haven't eaten much."

"I don't have much of an appetite, thank you," she said curtly.

Kakashi sighed and raked a hand through his silver hair tiredly. "What do you think happened to us?"

"Don't you remember or have you gotten senile in the last few minutes?"

"Don't," Kakashi replied curtly.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Well, I'm asking for your opinion," he pointed out and he watched her become silent, her eyes distant. "We fell apart at the seams. Like you said before, happiness doesn't last long and friendships are a form of happiness," she answered thoughtfully.

Kakashi nodded and stared into the small glass that held the candle. It was almost gone, he noted. Only a quarter of the way to go before it was snuffed out completely; just then, he heard Amaya ask him something. "What…what do you think of our relationship?"

Kakashi looked up, startled. "I'm sorry?"

"Our relationship. What do you think of it? How do we define it?" she asked, her voice laced with professionalism.

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, when he suddenly closed it. How could you define their relationship? At current, they were nothing but co-workers and acquaintances. Years before, they had been sempai and kohai, then memories, then old acquaintances, then friends, but that night made everything complicated. Now he didn't really know where they stood. Maybe that was the reason he told her to cut ties with him? Maybe he wanted sometime to analyze their situation and sort things in his mind.

But he had had two months and he still didn't know. He'd been too guilt-ridden to do anything but his daily routine. Just what were they? What was she to him? They weren't friends with benefits. A one-night stand didn't constitute as that and he hadn't felt particularly good about it the next day. Acquaintances? No, they passed that stage. He knew her like she knew him, so maybe…maybe…

Kakashi looked up—the answer was at the tip of his tongue, begging to be let out when he saw her stand. "I see you haven't changed," she said coldly. "Goodbye Hatake-san."

And with that, she left, leaving him as confused as he was when he began.

-

-

Insects chirped and leaves rustled as Kakashi walked through the forest. It was dark out, about an hour before midnight and a half hour since he had left the restaurant. He should feel slightly happy. He had gotten a free meal. When he moved to pay for the check, the waiter said it was covered by a friend of theirs. Idly, he wondered if it was Sakura or Naruto who paid when the sound of water reached his ears.

In front of him was the old Team 7 bridge. In the light of the full moon, he could see the shadowed reds of the pillars that lead to the bridge. They reminded him of the entrances to shrines.

As he walked towards the bridge, he took in the old sight. He hadn't been here in a while. If he closed his eyes, he could still see the four of them. Naruto talking about ramen, Sakura fawning over Sasuke, Sasuke waiting patiently on the bridge, and he'd be eternally late. Those were simpler times. Happier times, but as he had said before, happiness never lasted long. It was like the water that washed under the bridge; it was never the same water that washed under the concrete.

Kakashi watched the water. It was unusually still tonight. Closing his eyes, he could imagine the water that lapped at the walls that lined the river when a faint dripping sound reached his ears. "Huh?"

He blinked open his eyes and saw he was at the foot of the bridge and in the middle, half in light, half in shadow, was Amaya. A drop of water fell from her heels and into the water. It rippled the calm water, but she didn't notice as she looked up at the moon. How come he didn't notice she was there?

"What?"

Kakashi shook his head and noticed her looking at him. He said nothing and walked beside her. "The moon is quite close tonight."

"Yes…" she said, her voice unsure as she tried to find out what his motives were.

"The water's still tonight."

"It's been like this since last week," she said relaxing slightly. Her fingers shifted on the rail of the bridge and she kicked her legs as she sat on the rail.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," he admitted truthfully as he leaned on the rail, his hands crossed and resting on the rail beside her. A silence stretched between them and Kakashi fidgeted awkwardly. Strange that he fidgeted, but then again, he wasn't used to wearing shirts like this. "Why are the soles of your shoes wet?"

"I was dancing," she answered.

"On the water?" he asked incredulously and he immediately wanted to retract the statement as she glared at him and turned to face the moon. "What I choose to do in my spare time should not have to undergo your criticism, Hatake-san. As you said before, I have my own team and you have yours."

"You're right. Sorry, Amaya-san."

She grunted in response.

Amaya looked beneath her at the still water, then at the moon. Sighing to herself, she reached down to remove her shoes, wiggling her toes experimentally in the moonlight before letting out a steady exhale and jumping into the water.

Kakashi leaned heavily over the bridge, placing one foot into the gap in the rail as he stood ready to jump in and yell at her for thinking of killing herself when he only heard a small drop hit the water. Slowly, he placed his raised leg back onto the concrete as he watched her glide and leap in the water, the only sounds coming from her was the sound of her breathing and the drops of water falling and rippling the water.

He watched her graceful moves, the lights and shadows shifting over her body constantly and as suddenly as it began, it ended and she sat on the rail of the bridge, her shoes once more on her feet.

Amaya cleared her throat. "Can I help you?" Kakashi blinked, he hadn't realized he had been staring. "No," he answered. "So this is what you do at night?"

"It calms my nerves. I've only been doing it recently and I can only do it when the water is calm. It's more difficult when the water is rough and I come out every night to check."

"…strange…"

"Need I remind you of what I said not too long ago?"

Kakashi shook his head. "It's just, I've never heard of someone doing this before."

Amaya chuckled to herself. "You'd be surprised. Hinata-chan was doing something like this only a few years ago."

"The Hyuuga girl? How do you know her? How do you even know that she did that?" Kakashi asked in surprise.

"Sakura introduced me to her; she told me, and I've just told you. Have I sated your curiosity or do you have more questions for me?" she asked coldly.

"Iie," he answered.

Amaya nodded. "Well, if that is all, I must be going. It's late and I have to wake up early tomorrow morning." Leaping off the railing, she landed on the ground and straightened out her skirt. "Goodnight Hatake-san," she said with a nod and began to walk away from him when she heard it.

"This is so stupid."

Amaya froze and looked over her shoulder. "What's stupid?"

"This," he replied, a hint of exasperation in his voice and she turned, a hand on her hip as she tapped her foot in irritation. "There are many things that can constitute as 'this', so unless you elaborate, Hatake-san, I will not be able to understand what you mean by 'this.'"

Kakashi raked a hand through his hair and sighed into the air. "This! You!"

"Oh, so I'm stupid now?"

"No!" he screamed. God, he felt like a little kid who wanted something, but couldn't tell his parents so. He felt like he was having a temper-tantrum and that probably wasn't too far off. He fisted his hands in his hair.

"No. It's not you! It's-It's—Kami-sama!" he said in exasperation.

"Cursing deities now, are we, Hatake-san?" At his desperate gaze, she decided to give him pity. "It's what?" she asked patiently.

"This whole thing is stupid!" he shouted.

"You have yet to elaborate on what you're talking about," she said stoically.

"This! You—acting cold! This isn't you, Amaya-chan!"

"Who knows? Maybe this is me," she retorted. "After all, people change all the time."

"This—You—Gah!" Kakashi threw his hands into the air in exasperation. "What the hell is going on? Why can't we go back to what we were before? Why can't things be simple again?"

"Why do we fight? Why do we need oxygen to survive? Why not some other element? Why does Naruto really love ramen? Not all questions have answers, Hatake-san."

"No!" He grabbed Amaya's hand in his and she looked at him, measuring the man in front of her and he sighed. "Why can't we go back to the way we were?"

"What were we to begin with?" she riddled.

"Friends," he answered truthfully. She watched him as he spoke. "I hate you acting cold towards me. I don't want you to keep giving me the cold shoulder. All I want is to be friends again," he panted, his chest rising and falling with every breath. Though he felt exhausted, he felt strangely better. As cliché as it sounds, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked up and he felt his heart sink at her detached gaze. Was this how people felt at trials? This feeling of dread?

"Well?" he asked. Amaya looked at him coldly, her mouth opened and he closed his eyes and lowered his head as she gave him his verdict.

"Okay."

Kakashi snapped his head up so fast, he might just have to ask Sakura to check his neck for whiplash. "What?"

Amaya smiled at him. "It was all I ever asked for," she replied and held his hand between hers, her glare returning. "But you do that again and I'll have Sakura-chan castrate you at your next physical."

"I'll try to remember that."

Amaya snorted. "Like you could. Try as you might, you can't deny that you're getting old."

Kakashi looked at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry. Are you sure you're 23?"

"I'm 24, you dolt. I just told you. This only proves my point!" she shouted as they walked towards the village.

"And name-calling proves mine," he said with a cheerful smile.

And all was normal once more.

-

-

Time passed slowly, but surely. Children played ninja, another group of academy students were going through the graduation tests, shinobi walked in the streets, and in one of the main roads, two people walked.

Kakashi walked with his nose in Icha Icha Tactics as Amaya continued to chide him on his questionable literature and how he was emotionally and mentally scarring future generations by reading it in public. All of which, he replied to by reading the page aloud.

"And so, Junko's hand trailed lower down Chieko's thigh and—"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Amaya screeched, batting his shoulder as they walked, not noticing the grin on Genma's face or the knowing looks of the villagers around them.

As usual, the gossip mill had run out of topics and so, what better to talk about than the relationships of the resident ninja? Though there was plenty to talk about, there were two names that came up repeatedly: Kakashi and Amaya. They came up so many times and the two were seen together so many times that the gossip mill nicknamed the duo the new Asuma and Kurenai. At this, Kakashi would either look up questioningly or ignore them (they really needed a new hobby), and Amaya would smile indulgently, but say nothing, which would whip them into more of a frenzy.

Though cruel, Amaya found it amusing that they were deemed the new unofficial couple and if they wanted a show, she'd give them a show. Shinobi aimed to please, after all. So what if the client was herself? She had a duty to herself to be happy; especially since word was beginning to spread that Hebi might be starting activity again.

A heavy sigh was heard beside Kakashi and he looked up from his book and glanced over at the woman beside him. He knew what she was thinking of. "We'll get him back; don't worry."

Amaya looked at him before looking away and nodded. "I hope so, for Sakura's sake. When I went to visit her last week, she was looking at a picture of Sasuke. She looked so sad."

"I know. Naruto was doing the same thing yesterday when he walked by the Uchiha district."

"I miss him," Amaya said sadly.

"I know. I miss him too," he said pocketing his book as Amaya became lost in thought. _'I wonder what life would be like if Itachi never killed his clan? What would things be like then? Would we still have to worry about the Akatsuki? Would he really have become the next clan leader? Would I still have my best friend?'_

A gust of wind blew through the air, rustling leaves and causing the shop curtains to flutter in the breeze. Amaya's hair flew around her and the wind died down. Her hair was stuck at the corner of her mouth, but Amaya didn't seem to notice.

Kakashi reached down to tuck it behind her ear and she looked up, startled from her thoughts. He simply smiled and moved the raven strands behind her ear and followed the curve of her ear before moving to pull away his fingers, but his fingers hesitated for a second before leaving.

Children played ninja, another group of academy students were going through the graduation tests, shinobi walked in the streets, and in one of the main roads, two people walked; one humming a song to herself and the other that had his hands in his pockets as he wondered about a lingering touch.


	11. Chapter 10

Sorry this is a bit late. I kind of...forgot about this story (insert nervous laughter here), but there's Naruhina in here, so don't kill me just yet!

* * *

"There he is again."

"Yup."

"He's at it again."

"Yup."

"Do you think he'll ever notice?"

"Nope."

And so ended the conversation between Sakura, Amaya, and Kurenai as they watched Naruto run towards Ichiraku, completely unaware of the longing glances Hinata gave him not too far away.

Sakura sighed. "We need to do something."

"We could always tie him up and lock them in a room together," Amaya suggested. Clearly, her hanging around Anko was taking its toll.

"Nah. How about we tell him that we made up a scavenger hunt and he has to go find the prize which will be Hinata," Sakura suggested.

"Nah. Hinata would be there for days," Amaya said.

Kurenai sipped her tea. "We can always set them up on a date."

Amaya and Sakura looked to each other, then at the mother of Asuma's child as they blinked owlishly. "That's brilliant."

Kurenai just smiled proudly.

-

-

"Sensei, tell me why I'm doing this again?" Naruto asked as he stood before the mirror in his apartment. He was currently standing like a scarecrow with his arms out and his feet planted firmly on the floor as Kakashi tugged on his clothing which was an orange T-shirt and an old pair of jeans.

Kakashi stood back to survey his work as he held his chin before sighing and straightening out Naruto's sleeves. "Naruto, _I_ don't even know why I'm doing this."

This answer wasn't entirely false. He knew that the reason he was doing this was because Amaya and Kurenai had cornered him somehow and threatened to burn his books while he watched if he didn't help their plan, but he didn't know why he agreed so readily. No, it wasn't the books because he had three backup copies of each volume and five copies of each special edition volume. Maybe it was because he felt a bit sorry for the Hyuuga girl or maybe it was because he was having a harder and harder time saying no to Amaya.

"Why am I getting so dressed up if we're just going to Ichiraku?"

"Sakura just wanted to see you wear something other than that jumpsuit of yours," Kakashi answered as he leaned against the wall. The chair and bed were off-limits. Besides the clothing and other things strewn across them, Kakashi had no idea what Naruto did in them and didn't want to risk it. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Naruto?"

Naruto rushed over to the door, kicking away a dirty T-shirt that had gotten caught on his foot. He opened it and grinned. "Hey Sakura-chan."

"Hey Naruto. Hey Kakashi-sensei," Sakura greeted.

"Ohayo," Kakashi replied and Naruto blinked. "Ne, Sakura-chan, why are you in your training outfit?" he asked, referring to the red vest, spandex shorts, and skirt she wore.

"I have some training to do after we eat," Sakura answered. Naruto seemed convinced by her answer because they left his apartment soon after.

-

-

It was around ten o' clock that morning when they reached the middle of the village. The sky was painted grey and though the sky was unusually dreary, life bustled like it had before.

Naruto blathered on and on about how boring it was to not have missions or any real training since Yamato and Sai were doing something at Anbu headquarters when he noticed someone. "Hey Amaya!" he shouted.

Amaya turned to wave back and smiled when he ran over and chuckled slightly when she saw his slightly stunned expression. So he finally noticed who she was talking with.

Hinata blushed as she felt Naruto look her over. She couldn't really blame him. After all, she rarely wore civilian clothing. Her ensemble consisted of a yellow cardigan over a white dress with small blue flowers scattered across the fabric. She offered a shy smile. "H-hello Naruto-kun."

"Wow! You look great, Hinata-chan!" That Naruto, always to the point.

"As I was saying, why don't you join us for lunch, Hinata-chan?" Amaya asked.

Hinata nodded. "Alright."

The group smiled at their new addition and they walked to Ichiraku before stepping under the curtain. After getting seated (from the left, Hinata, Naruto, Amaya, Sakura, Kakashi) and placing their orders, the gang started talking.

"H-how have you been, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled. "Eh, alright I guess. A bit bored since Baa-chan hasn't given me a mission yet. What about you? I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been alright. Though, I understand you being bored. The clan meetings are a bit dull," she chuckled.

"I don't get why they have those kinds of meetings. I mean, you're sitting in a room with a bunch of old people and you just listen to them gripe at you," Naruto replied having done a bodyguard mission that required him to sit in on a meeting while the client listened to his clan's grievances.

Hinata chuckled. "It isn't always like that. Sometimes, we get people from the other branches come with their problems and we try to help them out. I mean, as boring as the meetings are, I'd like to help my clan prosper as much as they can."

Naruto chuckled. "I'd like to see that."

Hinata blushed and turned to face him once more. "What about you? How has it been with your dream to be Hokage?"

Naruto smiled, but the action seemed forced. "It's been alright, but…I can't help but feel like I failed. How can I expect to be Hokage if I can't even help my best friend?" He felt a touch on his shoulder and looked up. "Hinata?" She looked at him with conviction.

"We'll find him, Naruto-kun. I know it might seem like we'll never get Sasuke-san back, but we can't give up hope. We will find him, Naruto, and we will get him back."

A bowl was set on the counter and Naruto smiled as he broke his chopsticks. "You're a great friend, Hinata-chan."

"F-friend?"

"Yup. I needed that, Hinata. You're the best friend a guy could ever hope for," he said with a grin.

"F-friend?"

Naruto looked at her. "Is everything alright, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata looked up, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. "I'm fine. It's just—it's just—I have to go," she said hastily before stumbling on her chair leg and running out of the restaurant.

Naruto watched her go and blinked. "Was it something I said?" he asked. Then he noticed the disapproving glares from his friends. Even Teuchi and Ayame were glaring at him. He did the only intelligible thing he could do that that moment.

"What?" he asked.

"She likes you," Sakura said through gritted teeth. Kakashi just shook his head.

"Oh," he replied before whipping his head around. "W-what?!" he spluttered.

"She likes you, Naruto, and you just broke her heart by saying how great a friend she was. Not only that, you highlighted it to her," Amaya snapped.

"But-but-but—I—isn't being friends supposed to be a good thing?!" he shouted.

"Not if you love someone. Being called a friend is basically saying 'sorry, I don't feel the same about you, but I still want you to hang around me,'" Sakura stated.

"She l-loves me?" he asked, his heart beating madly as his head swam in circles.

"She's loved you since we were genin. Maybe even before that," his pink-haired friend snapped. God, Naruto was dense.

"S-since we were genin?" he stammered, a bright blush on his face.

Suddenly, he stands and runs out of the establishment. His friends do not ask him where he's going or why he's leaving. He just follows where his feet are taking him.

-

-

When Naruto finally stopped, a thin layer of sweat on his brow, he found himself in the forest. He was standing in a small clearing and he could feel the grass prick his feet, having lost his shoes in his mad dash here. Mixed with the grass were small wildflowers and only a few meters from where he stood, there was a waterfall and a shadow in a tree. As soon as he moved, he felt a kunai pressed to his throat before a timid, shocked voice uttered his name. "Naruto?"

He felt the kunai leave his neck and turned to the girl. "Hinata-chan!"

"W-what are you doing here?"

Naruto blinked. "Good question. Why am I here?" he asked himself. After a few minutes of pondering, he looked at her. "I guess I don't know," he said grinning sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. She giggled.

"What about you, Hinata-chan?"

"Oh. Um…I always come here. It gives me a place to think," she said sitting in the grass, her knees tucked under her chin. He plopped down beside her. "Cool."

The two sat like that for a while, neither one talking, just sitting in the small clearing. A butterfly flitted past in the dark setting as the trees crowded each other as they fought for what little light filtered from above; Naruto fidgeted. "Hinata, is it true—is it true that you love me?"

The girl tensed visibly, her spine as straight as a board and he knew he had his answer. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked. She mumbled something under her breath and he went closer to hear her better. "I'm sorry?"

"You liked Sakura-chan. You still do," she said quietly and Naruto tensed as guilt clutched his heart. She didn't tell him because…he liked Sakura-chan?

Looking back, he could see his mistake. She had been shy back then. She was still shy now and all those years ago, all he would do was try and get Sakura's attention, failing to even recognize her. The only time he did, he had called her that weird quiet girl. It wasn't until the Chunnin exams that he truly saw her. When she fought valiantly against her cousin and showed him how strong she was and when he had doubted himself, it was her that had come to wish him luck.

He felt horrible. He didn't deserve someone like her. She had stuck by his side for years, even when he failed to notice that. He was too busy trying to get Sakura's attention when he had it all the time, just not the type he wanted. He was never going to be more than a best friend and a brother to her, he realized that now. She respected him and marveled at his determination, but she could never love him the way he wanted her to. She'd given her heart to another and whether he or she wanted to acknowledge, he still had it.

He turned to Hinata, thinking how here she was. She had been giving him her heart for years, but he was too dense to realize it and he chuckled at the irony of it all. There was a question now. Would he take her heart?

"Hinata…"

Or would he break it?

"Hinata…" Naruto began as he held her shoulders and turned him to her. "Y-yes?" she asked, a blush on her face, but she had not fainted. She had grown.

Naruto bit his lip. "I'm…I'm not entirely sure how I feel about you. I know I care about you a lot, but I'm not sure in what way I care about you, but if you'd let me, I'd like to see where this could lead us."

"U-us?" she asked, startled.

He heard the fairy-like quality of her voice. Had her voice always been like that? What was her laugh like? He smiled warmly at her. "Yeah. Us," he answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her face.

His finger brushed against the shell of her ear and he felt her shudder from his touch and his hands took a mind of their own, tracing down her ear and trailing down her jaw line. It wasn't until his thumb brushed over her lower lips and he heard her sharp intake of breath that he realized what he was doing.

"Hinata-chan, I'm so sorry. I—" But his mind went blank as her lips moved against his thumb, accidentally kissing it and he felt his lids lower at the soft touch. Slowly, he felt his head lower, as if drawn to her lips.

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. "Naru—"

The last syllable of his name was lost as he pressed his lips to hers gently and just like the kiss, he pulled away tentatively. "Hinata?" he whispered. Her hand slid up his and slim fingers held his wrist as she leaned her head up at his. "Naruto…"

-

-

In the crowd of people maneuvering through Konoha's busy streets, two figures stood on their toes as they craned their necks and searched. "Where is he?" Amaya asked as she shielded her eyes with her hand and focused her gaze farther into the crowd.

"I don't know. I don't see him," Sakura replied, a hint of frustration in her voice. Even if she had a last minute growth spurt, she still wasn't tall enough to see over the crowd. How peachy.

"Maybe because you're looking in the wrong places."

Before Amaya and Sakura could yell at their silver-haired companion's retort, they spotted a patch of blonde and blue hair and ate their words before he could make them.

The crowd parted to reveal the two. All seemed normal. They were both smiling as to be expected. Hinata for being near Naruto, Naruto for just being happy and then, the three spotted something out of place, but not unpleasantly so.

They were holding hands.

'_Oh, if Kurenai could see this now. Too bad she got sick,'_ Amaya thought as Kakashi walked over to ask the new couple about what they were going to do now that they were a couple. A smile crept onto her lips when she noticed the sad look laced with envy in Sakura's eyes. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Sakura glanced up before looking at her best friend. "Yeah. It's just—it's just—"

"It's just that you wish it were you," Amaya answered.

Sakura sighed. "Yeah."

Amaya pressed a kiss to the head of the girl she considered a sister and daughter and rubbed her arm. "Don't worry; you'll get your shot."

"You think?" Sakura asked, hopeful.

"I know," Amaya replied firmly and the clouds part and the sun highlighted the peaceful scene under its light…but happiness never lasted long.

_"I have a mission for you all. We've received word that Hebi has been spotted on the Sand/Fire border. You know what to do. You leave tomorrow."_

With a nod, Hinata, Shizune, Genma, Kakashi, Amaya, Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Yamato, and Sai left and Tsunade could only sigh and pray for the best.


	12. Chapter 11

Obviously, this was written before the 'Sasuke-Itachi Arc' of dewm,' but who cares? Fanfiction ahoy!

* * *

It was morning when they left the village gates and darted into the treetops. Though it seemed unnecessary for so many people to come, there was no doubt that when they found Hebi, they'd find one of the Akatsuki.

They moved silently through the trees. If they had to ask something, they asked with their eyes. Rest stops was few and far in between, lasting only a few minutes and it wasn't until nightfall that they stopped for camp.

It was in the flickering light of the fire that Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata set up their tent. It was also in this light that Shikamaru discussed possible strategies with Yamato and Sai, and Shizune healed Genma's twisted ankle. Neji and Tenten came back with more firewood and Kakashi grabbed a few branches and stoked the fire, watching the remnants of the night's dinner turn to ash.

He heard the shuffle of feet and the small tap of a sword sheath and he moved one of the logs in the fire. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Amaya replied, her ponytail swishing against her back. She tucked her knees under her chin. "The stars are beautiful tonight," she commented. He poked a log with a stick. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

She pulled her legs closer to her body. "Are you okay? You seem troubled."

"No different from any other mission," he joked and she chuckled a bit before looking at him. "You'd tell me if you felt something was wrong, right?"

"Right," he affirmed.

"So…how do you think the mission is going to turn out?" she asked.

Kakashi stared into the flames. "What I _hope_ is that we'll get him back and he'll have all this revenge nonsense out of his system. What I _think_ is that one of us is going to die and we don't get him back."

"That bad?"

"It's an S-rank mission with three Anbu operatives, an ex-captain/ jounin, a couple more jounin, and two medics. We never needed this much man power for a retrieval mission before. And even with this many people, we can't guarantee we'll get him back," Kakashi said curtly and threw another twig into the fire.

Amaya stared into the fire. "That's because we've never had to get an Uchiha back before," she said.

Kakashi turned to face her slightly and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her sadness. She must have seen him see because she quickly shook her head and smiled at him. "I have first watch, right?"

"Uh, yeah," he responded as he carelessly put another stick into the fire. He knew he should've stopped stoking it because it would attract unwanted attention, but he couldn't stop himself. He had the urge to feed the flames to see the fire dance before his eyes and stay under the stars just a bit longer.

"Are you going to bed soon?" she asked.

He blinked up at her and turned back to the fire. "Not yet. I want to stay out here for a little bit longer." He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye before he heard her dart into the bushes and circle the campsite. He heard her set up a few traps, the small tingle of bells reaching his ears before she returned and leapt into a tree not far from him.

The tree she chose was a few centuries old. She had chosen a branch about 10 meters above the ground. She rested her back against the trunk and looked into the treetop. From where she sat, the leaves parted just enough for her to see the moon. It was full tonight.

'_It's beautiful.'_

A sigh escaped her lips and she closed her eyes for a second before opening them again. If you looked at her, her eyes would be glazed over, staring into the distance as a memory played out before her eyes and words left her lips.

_I touch the fire and it freezes me  
I look into it and it's black  
Why can't I feel?  
My skin should crack and peel  
I want the fire back_

Now, through the smoke she calls to me  
To make my way across the flame  
To save the day or maybe melt away  
I guess it's all the same

__

So, I will walk through the fire  
Cause where else can I turn?  
I will walk through the fire  
And let it—

In the pale moonlight, Amaya reached for Sumiko. She brushed her hand against her godchild's cheek. The tiny girl smiled and a tear fell from Amaya's eyes.

_So one by one, they turn from me  
I guess my friends can't face the cold  
But while I froze,  
Not one among them knows  
And never can we talk_

_Going through the motions…_

_Walking through the part…_

_These endless days are finally ending in a blaze_

_And we are caught in the fire  
At the point of no return  
So we will walk through the fire  
And let it  
Burn  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Let it burn…_

She was so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Kakashi had left.

-

-

It was their second day of travel. It was hard for Sakura to believe that it was about a three day travel to where they needed to go, but she had done this before. Like the day before, they traveled in silence when Kakashi, the captain for the mission signaled to go down. She looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark. No wonder he told then to stop, but then again, she wasn't complaining. Though she wanted to get Sasuke back, there would be no possible way for her to even try if her chakra reserves were depleted.

She hopped down from the trees she stood and landed quietly, Amaya and Hinata following suit before walking away from the path of trees they took. It was always best to camp away from the path they took. Anyone who knew how to track would be able to see the branches broken unnaturally as they moved through the trees and it wouldn't be long until they were found.

They camped at a small clearing. It was a few meters away from the river, with enough foliage to conceal the campsite, unlike the river bank. From where Sakura sat, he could hear Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji fishing while Tenten and Hinata looked for some mushrooms or berries. Genma was talking with Yamato, Amaya, and Kakashi while they laughed and Sai was trying to figure out why they were laughing. Not far from the fire Sai had started not long ago, Shizune was pouring over a scroll. She must have noticed the eyes staring at her because she looked up and smiled at Sakura before waving her over.

"Hello Sakura," Shizune greeted.

"Hello Shizune-san," Sakura returned. "If I may ask, what are you reading?"

"Oh, just some old notes about the sharingan. To be honest, it's a bit overwhelming. Normally I'd have more time, but I think I'll manage."

Sakura nodded and glanced at the scroll. In the middle of the scroll, there was a diagram of a dissected sharingan, small footnotes strewn around the picture. She skimmed a few lines. Most of what she read were things she already knew. The sharingan slowed actions down like hand signs, making it easier to copy the jutsu, but that ability relied on the user's own ability. Scanning the document further, she sighed in disappointment. Much of this, she had learned from her own experiences with the sharingan, but she had yet to learn the important things. What really caused the Mangekyou Sharingan? How could Kakashi get the Mangekyou Sharingan? How did they activate it? What caused the blindness from subsequent overuse? Pulling her head away from the scroll, she frowned at the lack of knowledge she was supposed to have gained from the scroll. She had no idea of the weaknesses of Sasuke's kekkei genkai, only certain limitations. She could only hope that she wouldn't have to face either of the two brothers, but she knew she was grasping at straws.

"Sakura, are you alright?"

Sakura flashed Shizune a smile. "Yes, I'm fine. So, watch is the same as last night, right?"

"Yes. First Amaya, then Genma, me, Kakashi, Tenten, Naruto, Shikamaru, then you," Shizune answered. Though Sakura thought that the fact that some could skimp on watch duty, she couldn't really complain. She liked watch duty. It gave her something to do in the mornings, seeing as she was an early riser, and she could contribute to her team aside from her medic duties. She knew she was supposed to avoid confrontation as much as possible, but she couldn't help feeling slightly guilty that she couldn't throw herself into the fray like the others.

With a polite nod, she walked away from Shizune and went to set up her tent.

-

-

Kakashi stoked the fire once more as the others slept and Amaya circled the trees once more. She had started her watch a few minutes ago and no doubt, she would land in a branch and gaze at the moon before singing again. She was nothing, if not a creature of habit, but not so much that it was a problem. A small change would throw her off-kilter for a short while before she adapted and went on with her routine. How did he know this? He had learned from experience when they were in Anbu together.

As he gazed into the flames, he found himself thinking about her singing and found it strange. It wasn't his that he thought her singing was strange because she'd done stranger things before. Rather, it was his thoughts on her singing that were strange. Under normal circumstances, he would have reprimanded her for such behavior because of the possibility of revealing their location to an enemy, but he hadn't. He had stayed silent last night and this morning, she flashed him a happy smile.

As per tradition, if he didn't say anything, whatever you were doing was fine by him. To be honest, he was curious about what she would sing next. Her first song seemed to be personal and if the fact she was crying meant anything, it was a painful memory. It was a safe bet that it was memories of killing her godchild. Killing a child was always hard, but having personal attachments always made it worse.

He heard a rustle in a treetop and he looked up to see her look at the moon and close her eyes. Idly, he noticed her posture was different. One leg hung lazily over the side of the branch as the other was propped up in front of her. Her left arm hung by her side and her right arm was propped on her right knee. She turned her head to the moon once more as if looking for an answer to something before she sighed and looked into the distance.

_(1) Ki ni naru noni kikenai  
Oyogitsukarete kimi made mukuchi ni naru_

Aitai noni mienai nami ni osarete  
Mata sukoshi tooku naru

Togirenai you ni Keep it going baby  
Onaji kimochi ja nai nara tell me  
Muri wa shinai shugi demo  
Sukoshi nara shite mitemo ii yo

I wanna be with you now  
Futari de distance chijimete  
Ima nara maniau kara  
We can start over  
Hitotsu ni wa narenai  
I wanna be with you now  
Itsu no hi ka distance mo  
Dakishimerareru you ni nareru yo  
We can start sooner  
Yappari I wanna be with you

Hitokoto de konna ni mo kizutsuku kimi wa  
Kodoku wo oshiete kureru

Mamorenai toki keep on trying, baby  
Yakusoku toori ja nai kedo trust me  
Muri wa shinai shugi demo  
Kimi to narashite mitemo ii yo

__

I wanna be with you now  
Futari de distance mitsumete  
Ima nara maniau kara  
We can start over  
Kotoba de tsutaetai  
I wanna be with you now  
Sono uchi ni distance mo  
Dakishimerareru you ni nareru yo  
We should stay together  
Yappari I need to be with you

She sat like that for a few more seconds before darting into the trees for another round of surveillance and returning to the tree and looking as if she had never left. The night went on like that. She'd sit in the tree thinking then dart off to circle the camp before returning and he just watched. When her watch was over, she leapt from the trees and walked over to the man snuffing out the fire. "Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"I could ask the same of you," he returned as brushed the ash from his clothing.

"I thought you'd be too miserly for that," she said cockily. "Besides, shouldn't you get some rest before your shift? I don't want to die in an ambush just because you fell asleep."

"Why? My watch starts now," he replied as he walked towards the tree she just left.

"But I thought it was Genma's watch right now."

"We traded," Kakashi replied and leapt into the tree. She gave a miffed expression, obviously annoyed at having spent the energy to get out of the tree to get back in. Curse his vague reasoning.

By the time she leapt into the tree, he was already lounging on the branch, a green novel in his hand. "What do you mean 'you traded?'"

"We switched watch duty times," he explained dully. "Really, do I have to explain lingo to you again?"

Amaya gave him an exasperated sigh and he smiled from behind his novel. She was always fun to tease for some reason. As to what reason, he had yet to figure out.

"No, I mean why did you switch? Wasn't it you that set up the schedule?"

"Well, it was more of just shouting out when you wanted to take watch," he replied turning the page.

"But why did you want to switch?" she asked.

'_Because I wanted to hear you sing some more?'_ No, he couldn't tell her that. First of all, it'd make him seem like some love-struck stalker. Two things that did not relate to Hatake Kakashi in any shape or form. Secondly, it'd make him sound like a complete idiot. After all, why should he care if she sang or not? But he felt compelled to stay, because when she was lost in her thoughts, she seemed vulnerable (something that was extremely difficult for any Anbu member) and he wanted to know why.

"Because I get better light to read by," he finally answered. She rolled her eyes, obviously still annoyed by his choice of literature and he chuckled when she muttered 'pervert' under her breath.

After he made his rounds, he returned to the branch to find her still there. She was staring at moon. "Amaya?"

She jumped slightly, obviously caught off-guard and while he normally chided such behavior, he simply sat back against the tree trunk and watched as she tried to calm her flustered self. It was while she was smoothing out her ponytail that he asked, "What were you thinking about?"

Again, she gave him a startled look. "I'm sorry?"

"What were you thinking about?" he repeated.

She made a sad smile that seemed to pull at his heart, but he slapped the thoughts away, only to begin to wonder how it seemed that she could glow in the moonlight. "Just thinking about an old friend," she admitted.

"Sasuke?" he asked, the novel tucked away and his hands in front of him.

She shook her head. "Wrong Uchiha."

He looked at her confusedly. There was no way she could have been talking about Obito and she said it wasn't Sasuke, so…

"Itachi?" he asked incredulously. She flinched and he knew he had just added salt to a wound. "Sorry."

"It's alright," she said quietly as she tucked her knees under her chin and wrapped her arms around her shins.

"But…why?" Kakashi asked softly.

"Why not?" she countered. "He was my best friend, after all."

"He was?"

"Yes. He…_was_," she answered, finally able to let that last word slip from her lips.

It was painful for her to admit their friendship was over with, he could see that. He couldn't imagine what it was like for her, to kill the people closest to her and then find out her best friend had killed not only his family, but a family she held dear to her heart as well. He could still remember the first time Amaya met the Uchiha clan.

_Flashback…_

"_Excuse me, sorry!" shouted a thirteen-yr-old girl as she rushed past the people in her way in the bustling village of Konoha._

'_He should be there. That's where Yuki said he would be,' the girl thought to herself as she remembered the words of her senpai. She made a sharp turn, skidding into the old district of the village that housed all the clans. Another sharp turn and she halted in front of a large wooden gate with a red and white fan. Nodding to herself, she pushed the door open slightly and slipped inside. "Kakashi-senpai? Kakashi-senpai?" she called out._

_She continued to walk around the compound. Many of whom she saw were women and children. She saw an old couple wave to her and she bowed politely before jumping onto a roof and shielded her eyes from the bright sun. "Where is he?" she asked herself._

"_Can I help you?"_

_Amaya looked down over the side of the tiled roof to see a woman smiling up at her. She had raven hair not unlike her own and wore a peach-colored T-shirt with a wine-colored skirt and over that was an apron. She had a beautiful smile. _

"_Ahh! Gomennasai, Uchiha-san!" Amaya shouted before jumping down and bowing profusely. "Gomennasai! I was looking for someone and—" _

_Suddenly, a small child emerged from behind the woman and tugged on her skirt. "Kaa-san, I'm scared."_

_Amaya's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry, Uchiha-san."_

_The woman chuckled. "It's alright." She turned to her son. "Don't be scared, Sasuke-kun," she told him before turning back to Amaya. "And call me Mikoto-chan. Now, you said you were looking for someone?"_

"_Ah, yes. I'm looking more my senpai, Hatake Kakashi."_

"_Kakashi-san is your senpai? You must be very proud," Mikoto said. Amaya puffed out her chest. "Yes, I am very lucky."_

"_And so young. It must be hard for you in Anbu."_

"_Oh, just a bit. Kakashi-senpai is a bit hard on us, but it's only to make us better," said the lanky teen. Footsteps signaled a new arrival and in the doorway, a young boy leaned his hand on the doorframe. "Kaa-san, who is that?"_

_Mikoto smiled. "Oh, Itachi-kun, hello. This is…this is…oh dear, I don't know your name."_

"_I'm so sorry, I'm Amaya," the girl answered with a bow. "It's nice to meet you."_

_Mikoto smiled. "Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uchiha Itachi. Pleasure to meet you too, Amaya-chan."_

_Amaya blinked. "Uchiha Itachi? The Uchiha Itachi?"_

_Itachi looked at the girl uneasily. "Yes?"_

"_It's an honor to meet you. I've heard so much about you," Amaya gushed as she shook his hand. Itachi returned the gesture awkwardly. "Um, thank you?"_

_She let go of his hand and he looked at her blankly. "You're weird." _

_Amaya simply scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. _

"_I get that a lot."_

_End flashback _

It was soon after that moment that Amaya began to frequent the house whenever she could and slowly, but surely, she grew on Itachi. It only took three weeks for the two to become nearly inseparable. Sasuke was also part of their group, but he could never stay long, but Itachi and Amaya could and from what she told him when he was her captain, she told him everything and he told her everything like how Itachi was, ironically, afraid of weasels when he was a kid. Amaya told him how she loved the color red and Itachi would activate his sharingan for her because she thought it was pretty and she even told him who she liked. Kakashi didn't know why he had blocked out such a memory. Maybe it was because when Itachi slaughtered his family, he couldn't believe he was the same boy that Amaya trusted with everything and so, he blocked it.

"Do you still miss him?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," she answered.

"Was that why you were singing?" he asked and she looked at him in surprise. "I was singing?"

"You weren't aware?"

"I was aware my mouth was moving. I mean, I realized last night that I was singing, but I didn't realize that I did it again," she replied. "Should I stop?"

"It's for you to decide, not me," he answered. "Can I ask something?"

"Anything," she replied.

"Was it for Itachi?"

"…I think so. I'm only vaguely aware of what I sang, but I know it was for him," she answered truthfully before turning to Kakashi. "Don't worry. I won't let my feelings for him get in the way. When the time comes, I won't hesitate to kill him."

Kakashi looked at the woman standing before him, an Anbu mask hanging in her hand. "I just hope it doesn't come to that." She chuckled, a bittersweet smile on her lips. "Wishful thinking, ne?"

He watched her leap down from the tree and into her shared tent before mulling over her words. She still cared deeply for Itachi, that was a given. There was no doubt she was loyal to her village and would kill him, but she also had given him a piece of her heart. He felt his finger twitch and his blood simmer. If he didn't know any better, Kakashi would've thought he was jealous.

-

-

It was the third day of travel. After today, they'd be in the area where Hebi was spotted last and after today, they'd be traveling blind. There was no doubt Sasuke would travel carefully.

Kakashi spotted the setting sun and pointed down and watched his team fall to the forest floor before he followed suit, landing with a small thud as his feet touched the floor. The team split up to do their various duties and Kakashi began clearing an area for the fire. Brushing aside the dry conifer needles and freshly fallen twigs, he glanced up to see Sakura chatting with Amaya as they picked some berries in a bush not to far away. Shaking his head as he realized his gaze was straying too long for his liking, he resumed his duty when he realized his gaze was on her again. Just then, a figure blocked his view and he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Kakashi-san, is everything alright?"

Kakashi smiled. "Yes Neji, I'm fine."

"Yeah. He was just checking out—Oh shit!" Genma exclaimed as he watched a twig become embedded in the tree he was just leaning against. Amaya turned to laugh at him. "What did you say this time, Genma?"

"Nothing! I was just saying—" Kakashi's glare cut him off and Genma had to swallow the lump in his throat.

"You were saying what?" Amaya asked.

"Nothing," Genma muttered and Kakashi smiled happily as he nursed the fire he created.

-

-

Kakashi stoked the fire once more as Amaya went around the campsite before leaping into the tree and he felt a sense of excitement in the pit of his stomach. It was like he was waiting for her to sing since she stopped last night. He couldn't exactly know why he felt that way, but before he could ask himself why, she began to sing and he fell silent.

_(2) Koi wo shite owari wo tsuge_

_Chikau koto wa kore ga saigo no HEARTBREAK_

_Sakura sae kaze no naka de_

_Yurete yagate hana wo sakasu yo_

_Furidashita natsu no ame ga_

_Namida no yoko wo tootta sutto_

_Omoide to DABURU eizou_

_Aki no DORAMA no saihousou_

_Doushite onaji you na PANCHI_

_Nando mo kuracchaun da_

_Sore demo mata tatakaun darou_

_Sore ga inochi no fushigi_

_Koi wo shite subete sasage_

_Negau koto wa kore ga saigo no HEARTBREAK_

_Sakura sae toki no naka de_

_Yurete yagate hana wo sakasu yo_

_Kurikaesu kisetsu no naka de_

_Kutsu ga surihetteku motto_

_Kata no chikara nuite_

_Kako wa dokoka ni shimatte oke_

_Koko kara sou tookunai darou_

_Mita koto mo nai keshiki_

_Tomaranai mune no itami_

_Koete motto kimi ni chikazukitai yo_

_Hitomawari shite wa modori_

_Aoi sora wo zutto tesaguri_

_Koi wo shite owari wo tsuge_

_Chikau koto wa kyou ga saisho no GOOD DAY_

_Sakura made kaze no naka de_

_Yurete sotto kimi ni te wo nobasu yo_

_Suki de suki de dou shiyou mo nai_

_Sore to kore to wa kankei nai_

Once again, her eyes were distant, but before he could ask who the song was for, she had disappeared into her tent.

'_What did she mean by that song?' _he wondered before laughing at the irony that though he was the feared Copy-Nin, he couldn't bring himself to cross a thin layer of tent fabric to ask for answers and with that, he leapt into the trees to begin his watch. He sat, bathed in moonlight as he tried to decipher the song, but he was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the woman that had opened the tent flap to look at him. With a sad glance, she turned her back to him and closed the tent.

**--**

(1): This is Utada Hikaru's song Final Distance.

I'm anxious but I can't say anything

I'm tired of swimming, even you've become silent

I want to see you, but an invisible wave pushes us

Again, just a little more distance

Try not to stop keep it going baby

If you don't feel the same then tell me

Even if your principle is to not try

It's alright to try a little

I wanna be with you now

Let's shorten the distance with the two of us

We can still make it on time

We can start over

We can't be as one

I wanna be with you

Someday even this distance

We'll be able to embrace

We can start sooner

After all I wanna be with you

You, who gets hurt with a single word

taught me what loneliness is

When you can't protect me keep on trying baby

It's not as I promised but trust me

My principle is to not try but

I would do it for you

I wanna be with you now

Look at our distance with the two of us

We can still make it

We can start over

I want to tell you with words

I wanna be with you now

One day, even the distance

I'll be able to embrace

We should stay together

After all, I need to be with you

(2): This is the translated version of Utada Hikaru's song Sakura Drops (I did not translate this or the other song).

Falling in love, saying goodbye

With a vow that this is the last heartbreak

Even the cherry tree, swaying in the wind

Will eventually blossom

The summer rain that started to fall

gently streaked past my tears

Images that resemble memories

Autumn's drama reruns

Why have I suffered

Almost the same blows such countless times?

But even so, I'll probably fight again

That is one of life's mysteries

Falling in love, giving it everything

With a wish that this is the last heartbreak

Even the cherry tree, swaying through time

Will eventually blossom

In the revolving seasons

My shoes are wearing out, more and more

Let go the tension in your shoulders

So you can seal away the past somewhere

From here they're probably not too far

Sceneries you haven't even seen

I want to overcome the ceaseless pain in my chest

And become closer to you

I have wandered about once and returned

Always grasping for the blue sky

Falling in love, saying goodbye

With a vow that today's the first good day

Everything, even the cherry tree, swaying in the wind

Softly reaches out toward you

I love you I love you, it can't be helped

That has nothing to do with this


	13. Chapter 12

Okay, it's deviated from the series. It has since chapter 8. For all of you reading the manga, Deidara is still alive here. Just…pretend he didn't use that last attack on Sasuke. Also, _**PLEASE**_ tell me what you think about the fight scene. I need serious help and I can't improve unless you tell me what I need to work on.

Spoilers for Shippuden and massive character death!! BEWARE! (Some of Deidara's lines have been quoted off a translation).

* * *

As soon as the morning fire was snuffed out, they moved. They were in the land in between Fire and Sand right now. Though mostly forest, the trees were beginning to give way to cliff sides and canyons as they got closer to Sand. A finger touched the small mechanism of an ear piece and the sound of static filtered through before a voice asked, "See anything yet?"

Static, then…"No, nothing. Wait, what's that?"

And no sooner had Shizune said that did an explosion set off and the group immediately stopped and braced themselves as the force of the explosion blew debris past them. Through the cloud of dust, Neji spotted someone. "It's Kabuto!"

At the sound of his voice, the silver-haired man smirked and turned towards them, revealing scorched skin and a yellow eye. Shizune froze. _'Orochimaru has taken over half of his body.'_

One person of the group noticed the male bound away followed by a group of ninja. "Kakashi, we—"

"I know, Shikamaru. We'll go after Sasuke. You take care of them." With a nod, the group split up, Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Genma, and Shizune heading after Kabuto and Amaya, Yamato, Sai, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi heading towards Sasuke.

"Are they going to be alright?" Amaya asked Sakura as they rushed through the trees.

"It's two Hyuugas, a Nara genius, and a weapon's mistress. Shizune can hold her own in battle and I doubt Genma's going to let himself get killed in the middle of nowhere."

"They'll be fine, Amaya-chan. Don't worry about it," Naruto said with a grin, but even Sai could catch the hint of worry in his tone. Kakashi pushed chakra to his feet and began moving faster, urging his team to follow suit when he saw something on the horizon and he raised his hand, signaling for them to stop.

Not 200 meters away lay a barren wasteland. Tree trunks were bent and snapped around the point of detonation. What grass was once there had been uprooted by the force of the blast or singed by the flames. The scent of burning wood was still fresh and the dust had just settled.

The group landed cautiously, masking their chakra, and began inspecting the scene. Yamato reached down and rubbed some of the dirt between his fingers. "Kakashi, it's clay. This could only mean—"

"I know," he interrupted. He let the silence sink in and closed his eyes to hone his senses when there was a sudden explosion and his eyes snapped open.

"There. 50 meters away, come on!" he ordered as he pushed chakra to his feet and headed to the trees. He heard his team's footsteps behind him and pushed faster when he felt the branch he put his weight on collapse under him. He heard Amaya shout his name and his eyes widen before he pushed off of the falling branch and landed safely on another. He waited for his pulse to calm.

'_That was no accident,'_ he thought when he heard voices. "Come on, we're close."

They set off towards the sound, the various trees flying past when he spotted something. "Move!" he shouted as a speeding object rushed past, breaking tree trunks as it moved before exploding not far away. He landed in a large clearing beside the sloped face of a cliff and turned to see the rest of his team follow suit. _'They're alright,'_ he thought thankfully.

Sakura dusted the dirt from her clothes and glanced up when her eyes locked gazes with a pair of eyes she hadn't seen in a while. They were as beautiful as she remembered and she couldn't help but wonder if she was dreaming. The dust began clearing and the scent of charred flesh reached her nose as more faces were revealed to her, but only one name escaped her lips.

"_Sasuke-kun…"_

Dead eyes met hers. He was tired, she could tell from the bags under his eyes, but he held his head up high and retained the regal air she remembered from so long ago. His fingers touched his sword. "Sakura," he returned emotionlessly.

"What a touching reunion," Karin sneered. Sasuke ignored the red-head and looked to the shadow standing on a large boulder, his sharingan activated. "Itachi…" he seethed.

Kisame shouldered his sword. "What? I thought this was supposed to be a family thing."

"Yes. Hello Kakashi." Itachi greeted monotonously. He turned. "And Amaya-chan, this is a surprise. Still alive I see."

"You should remember I'm stubborn or did you forget that when you betrayed our home?" she replied curtly.

The shark-like man grinned. "Feisty and look, you've brought the Kyuubi brat. Now we can kill two birds with one stone. Pardon the pun."

"Don't worry," Kakashi replied and the other blue-haired man cleared his throat.

"Hello, we're still here."

"Don't worry, Suigetsu. We haven't forgotten," Kisame said.

"Pleasantries aside, shall we get started, un?" Deidara asked.

Sasuke withdrew his sword and Kakashi pulled out a kunai as he revealed his sharingan. "Whenever you're ready." Itachi smirked, pleased and everyone watched as his lips moved forming the word, "Go."

As soon as those words were uttered, Karin lunged for Sakura as Suigetsu went for Kisame and Deidara charged towards Sasuke. _'I'll get you this time, you Uchiha brat.'_

A clay bird left Deidara's hand, but before it could even touch the stoic male's face, an arm reached forward and the clay detonated and Deidara could only stare in shock as Juugo's arm dissolved the shield it created.

"No one hurts Sasuke-sama."

* * *

Kisame looked at the man before him. Whitish-blue hair, purple and blue clothing, and a sword. Zabuza's sword if he remembered correctly. "So I heard through the grapevine that you want my sword."

"It is a very nice sword," Suigetsu said with a smile that exposed his teeth.

"That's the Samehada for you," Kisame said adoringly and Suigetsu grinned. "Yeah. I wonder how it'll be against Zabuza's old sword."

"Shall we put it to the test?"

"Let's."

The two men clashed swords, sparks flying into the air before parting. Kisame smirked at the man before him before charging and slashing his sword across Suigetsu's chest, cursing when he realized all he hit was water. "Damn."

Suigetsu smirked. "I thought you knew about my little ability. I mean, being Akatsuki, you should have info on everyone, right? Or was I not important enough for it? Karma sucks, doesn't it?"

"Wouldn't you have the same amount of karma as me?" Kisame questioned and Suigetsu shrugged before charging at him, surprising Kisame with his speed. The zanbatō was not something to be taken lightly and to be able to wield it so easily…

"Not really," Suigetsu answered as he pushed Kisame higher and higher up the cliff with his attacks. Kisame kept retreating further and further away up the cliff side, Suigetsu hot in pursuit when Kisame finally stopped. He had nowhere else to go. After all, he was at the top of the cliff.

Suigetsu looked around. They were all wrong. It was actually a plateau, but unlike most plateaus he had seen in his life, this plateau was nearly barren. It was all dry rock with small patches of grass here and there, but there was one more thing. It was hotter up here than down there.

"…shit." He turned to Kisame who was smiling proudly to himself. "You lead me up here."

"Yup. If I don't kill you, dehydration will. You should've paid more attention to your surroundings, kid. You're going to die from a rookie mistake," Kisame chuckled.

"Actually, you're the one who's going to die." Suigetsu ran towards him, zanbatō in hand when he felt a slash across his lower torso. He pulled away and groped his abdomen, finding he was fine. Then he heard a cracking sound and could only watch in horror as his water bottles crushed and the vital liquid was spilled onto the ground. He cursed, not noticing the hand signs Kisame was forming.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu."

And from the water rose a clone of Kisame and Suigetsu had only seconds to react as Kisame gave a downward slash with the Samehada and hissed a curse as Suigetsu reformed his body. Even with the Samehada, it was useless if all he was going to get was water, but he saw Suigetsu's breathing was slightly labored and chuckled. "It must be hard on your body. At this elevation, it's much hotter than down there with all the shade. Besides, it's high noon."

Suigetsu cursed and littered the ground with shuriken before turning into a puddle of water.

Now it was Kisame's turn to curse. Even with the temperatures, it would take a good five minutes for the water for fully evaporate. Suddenly, he heard a splash and turned to see a hand melt away, a kunai dropping from where his clone formerly stood. Normally, this wouldn't pose as a problem, but he and Itachi sparred earlier and he had used most of his chakra in the spar. Jutsu would be a problem if he wanted to be able to move. He would have to stall. Wait until the heat eventually weakened Suigetsu, but he didn't know how long that would take.

He looked around. "Must be hard on your body—being out of your element." Suigetsu responded by throwing shuriken at Kisame before once again, melting away.

Suigetsu formed silently. This wasn't good. He could only dissolve once more. After that, he'd die for sure.

He moved his fingers, quickly making a few hand signs and watched as fog encompassed the plateau. Kisame wouldn't be fooled by this technique, but Suigetsu could use this as cover for his next move and using the water around him, made a clone.

* * *

Kisame glanced around him. There was fog around him. It was obvious that this was ninjutsu and a pretty weak one, but it was a useful technique. Suigetsu was nowhere to be seen; he was nervous.

'_Keep calm. If I stay quiet, I have the element of surprise.'_

Suddenly, shuriken darted out around him. He cursed. They were coming from all direction. It would be impossible to find the point of origin. There were just too many.

Three scraped across his back as another dug into his upper arm when sound of scraping metal reached his ears and he knew that Suigetsu had grabbed the zanbato. He smirked and charged towards the sound. _'Stupid mistake,' _he thought as the Samehada clashed with the zanbato, relishing in Suigetsu's surprised face. He smirked, but cried out as searing pain tore his skin and ripped his insides. Blood poured freely beneath him as he fell forward and his muscles began to spasm. His Achilles tendon had been cut.

He panted, trying to ignore the pain that seared his nerves as he propped himself up with his sword, thrusting it up to block the blow meant for his head. The force sent him back and it was all it took for the next hit. Kisame hissed. His arm had been cut off.

Suigetsu slashed his sword downward, intent to kill in his eyes, but Kisame lifted his sword to block the blow. Unfortunately, the move had left an opening and Suigetsu landed a blow to his stomach. Using his arm, he made a desperate swing with his sword, running on adrenaline and the will to live, crying out when his other tendon was cut.

He staggered forward, panting heavily as blood pooled from under him and his nerves screamed for respite, but he couldn't stop. He knew he should have remained calm. Calm meant that you could think clearly, but with his tendons cut and an arm missing, he was desperate.

He looked up, panting heavily as Suigetsu smiled down at him. He swung blindly, hoping to at least wound him and grinned when he felt the sword connect with something and Suigetsu gasp. And then he heard the splash of water and he felt cold grip his heart.

'_No. No. No!' _

And he felt sharp pricks in his skin before darkness flashed before his eyes and he knew he had been had.

* * *

A dull thud was heard and the fog began to disappear to reveal Suigetsu panting heavily over the fallen body of Kisame. He did it. He finally did it. In the sweltering sun, he grinned to himself. The plan had worked. He picked up a kunai out of the sea of dark metal and smiled lovingly at it. Every one of these was laced with a poison that would dull reflexes, but it was a gamble. Its effectiveness depended on the opponents chakra levels. The lower the chakra levels, the faster the poison took place, but it had worked perfectly. He smiled with satisfaction and raised the zanbato for one final blow before collapsing from exhaustion under the blazing sun.

* * *

Sakura hissed as scratches marred her body and she felt her hair being pulled from her roots. Honestly, when did kunoichi start resorting to the classic cat-fight? Didn't they make weapons for this reason?

'_Obviously, no one told her,'_ Sakura thought as Karin tugged at her hair. Kami, this was almost like the fight against Kin she had as a genin.

Another tug from the red-head and Sakura shoved her hand up, hitting the underside of her chin and forcing her head back. Karin struggled forward, her fingers reaching for her eyes and Sakura kicked her in the stomach as her fingers reached for one of the kunai in her holster. Winding her fingers tightly around the hilt, she pulled it out and made a swipe for Karin's neck. It missed and as another red substance rained from above, Karin shrieked and moved away.

Sakura coughed, spitting out the hair that fell into her mouth as Karin stood meters away, cradling what was left of her long hair in her hand. Her fingers touched the left side of her head, fingering the jaggedly-cut chin-length hair and cried.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun will never look at me now!"

She turned to Sakura, a crazed look in her eyes as she threw down her hair and marched towards the pink-haired medic. "You…you…you think you've won, but you haven't. Sasuke-kun will be mine!"

Sakura gaped at Karin openly. "That's what this is all about? Sasuke?!" she asked incredulously, only to be slapped across the face.

"Shut up!"

Sakura could only stare up at the mad woman as she sent blow after blow, kick after kick at Sakura, just managing to block them all. _'She's fast,'_ Sakura thought. She couldn't even return any of the blows since she was so close. With every blow she gave, she was moving Sakura against the tree. As she moved both arms to block a punch, she felt a kick to her stomach and felt some of her internal organs become bruised as the wind was knocked out of her. She pushed herself up, winded and dazed when she felt a blow to her head, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Light filtered through the treetops as birds sang and in the distance, a stream could be heard. Sakura blinked her eyes open, her head pounding as she wondered where she was.

"I see you're awake," a voice sneered.

She looked down to see a familiar redhead. _"Karin."_

She moved to clench her fists at her sides, only to notice that her hands weren't at her sides, but above her head. She looked down and saw she was above the ground. Looking up, she found her hands bound by wire. She was hanging from a tree branch. "Let me go, Karin."

"You're not exactly in the position to be demanding anything at the moment. See those wires?" she asked, pointing to the ones that bound Sakura's wrists. "Those wires have been enhanced by chakra. Don't think about breaking them, it's impossible. They were made especially for your inhuman strength. Sasuke-kun told me," she said on a dreamy sigh.

"Also, the longer you hang on that branch, the tighter those wires become. Eventually, they'll cut off your wrists and where will Konoha's precious medic be without her hands?" she cooed. "And what will Sasuke-kun think of you then?"

Sakura glared. This woman was off her rocker. An idea struck her. She checked the branch she hung on before she began to swing her legs and focus her chakra to her hands.

Karin watched as the peculiar-haired girl swung her legs back and forth. This girl wasn't taking her seriously. "What the hell are you doing?"

Sakura remained silent. _'Come on…' _she thought, watching as Karin walked closer. Suddenly, her feet brushed against the trunk. Karin was closer now and with one final swing, she pushed off the tree, using the momentum to catapult her into a roundhouse kick, simultaneously snapping the wire that she had counteracted with her chakra as Karin was sent sailing into the forest floor.

Pain reached her mind as Karin's cheek connected with the forest floor and her back collided with a rock. She stood up, touching her jaw and gasping in abject horror to find her cheek swollen. _'Sasuke will never like me now.'_

"But—I—you shouldn't be able to—how could you? You bitch! I—"

But no sooner had she said that was her head was separated from her body. Sakura watched it roll on the ground, feeling rather than hearing the body collapse onto the ground. She removed the blood-covered wire from her hands. "You forgot to bind my feet," she said discarding the wire carelessly by the fallen girl as she focused chakra to her hands, healing herself as she walked towards her friends.

* * *

Juugo looked at the man before him. He was wearing an Akatsuki cloak like the others. He had mouths in his hand and a bluish-green eye. He caught a glimpse of the other. It was a scope hidden behind blonde hair.

'_Blonde?'_ Then he remembered the conversation earlier. The one where he got the urges again, where he decided the next person he would kill would be a blonde male. Sasuke had been able to stop him, but this man had threatened Sasuke. This man with the blonde hair…

"Yeah! Prepare to die!" Juugo screamed as dark blotches began to move over his pale skin. The enzyme was traveling through his body. The face, once kind, became wild as his eyes glazed with bloodlust and his arm transformed into a club. He charged towards Deidara, managing to graze him with the blow as Deidara moved away. His fist landed in the ground, creating a crater.

The dust that was kicked up from the impact slowly settled. Through the haze, Deidara could see a figure slumped over the crater, shoulders shaking as a malicious laugh bubbled from his throat. He only had seconds to react as the light-haired man ran towards him and threw some of his clay, detonating it, but it seemed to have no effect. It seemed to slow him down, but only for a few seconds. Juugo charged again and another handful of clay was sent to him and their dance began. For every step Juugo would take, Deidara would take a step back and send a clay bird to him. The sensation of branches and briars scratching his skin and catching in his clothing reached his brain, but he couldn't worry about such things. He had to get away. He had unintentionally stepped into the densely wooded forest, but it seemed to do nothing to stop him. He had to buy time, think of a plan.

"What do you think of my art, hmm?" Deidara asked, a tinge of unease showing through his voice as the crazed man chased after him, finding glee in his fear.

"I don't care about your art! It means nothing to me," Juugo replied smashing through the trees with his arm before catching up to him.

As Deidara stared up at the man ready to deliver the finishing blow, something within him snapped.

Juugo watched the man beneath him curl his lips into a snarl. "How dare you not care?!" he screamed and Juugo groaned in pain as he felt a blow to his neck, hitting where the enzyme began spreading. _'Not there!'_ he thought in alarm, sprouting wings to escape when he heard an explosion in front of him, the shockwave throwing him back.

Deidara was coming closer, he knew it. His arms were beginning to sting from the burns he sustained, but he had to keep moving. He forced himself to fly, heading towards the clearing created from the blast. If he could get there, he could get to safety, but he felt teeth bite his skin and a cackle reach his ears. "You thought you could get away? Well, you can't," he said sinking his teeth into the skin of his neck. Juugo gasped in pain and felt the enzyme recede. He lost control of his wings, spiraling and crashing to the ground.

Juugo groaned. His muscles ached. Some bones were fractured, he knew it. He looked up and smiled bitterly. He was at the clearing, but his wings were gone. He'd need at least a minute to recover before he could get them back. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab him and he cried out, startled. It moved, throwing him away from the point of impact and he looked up into crazed mismatched eyes. "How do you feel about my art, hmm?"

"I don't care! I don't care about your art! Just leave me alone!" he cried out holding his arms up in defense.

Deidara looked at him blankly before doubling over suddenly. His back heaved with his laughter.

"You…you're no better…you're just like _them_…looking upon my art with indifference. I'm sick of it. _I'm sick of it!" _

He tore off the tattered remains of his clothing, revealing the sutures that held his arms to his body. He raised his left arm, grabbing the sutures that were stitched across his body before releasing it, exposing the large mouth on his chest. A hand reached into the bag, feeding the mouth on his chest with the exploding clay as he laughed maniacally. "This will be my final masterpiece! Death will transform me into a work of art! An explosion unlike any of the others—ones that will leave scars in the Earth like nothing else! A creation worthy of praise unlike anything before it!"

'_Tobi, you died protecting me. I'm going to join you soon. You really were a good boy.'_

"This blast covers 10 kilometers. I'll only get to see you die, but I have the comfort of knowing those Uchiha bastards will die as well." Through the cracks in his skin, he could see Deidara's sick sneer. "How does it feel to know that all you have done was for waste? You will receive no appreciation for what you've done, for you have failed."

Juugo looked at Deidara in horror. _'Failure? Have I really failed him? Have I really failed you, Kimmimaro?'_

'"_One could go as far as to say his existence will be my own rebirth. I must bring him here, even if it costs me my life."'_

'"_Kimmimaro said Sasuke's existence was like his being reborn and Kimmimaro sacrificed his life to protect him." Those were my own words.'_

"…I know what I must do now."

Dark blotches spread slowly over his skin. Unlike before, his skin was entirely covered by the enzyme. Watching as more cracks appeared on his skin, he walked to Deidara and closed his wings around them both. Deidara chuckled. "Are you trying to save Sasuke, hmm? How valiant," he sneered. Juugo gave him no answer, his face solemn.

'_Give me the strength to save Sasuke and let me die as a hero; just like…Kimmimaro.'_

* * *

Itachi gazed coolly upon his opponents. Around him stood Sai, Naruto, Amaya, Yamato, and Kakashi, his brother gazing upon with a similar indifference, but he could see the hatred that bubbled under the surface. An object fell from the sky and landed at his feet as an explosion sounded in the distance. The smell of burnt flesh reached his nose as the shockwave ruffled his clothing.

"It appears that your teammates have fallen, Sasuke."

"Yours have not fared any better," he returned in the same manner of tone.

One glance to his brother made his brows furrow. "You are still not ready. You still lack the skill—the hatred to beat me." He felt Sasuke's aura rise slightly and inwardly smiled to himself. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend to some business."

Quick as a flash, he appeared before Naruto who blinked in shock. When had the older Uchiha moved? Suddenly, he felt himself shoved out of the way and warm spray hit his face. He gazed up, horrified to see Yamato skewered by a katana.

The sound of slicing flesh reached his ears and he could only watch as the cold metal slipped out of Yamato as easily as it slid in. Colder eyes turned to him and he froze in fear. Was this how death looked?

"Naruto!" Sai dove for the blonde. The idiot who was the self-proclaimed future Hokage. The idiot he called friend.

A bird grabbed Naruto, tugging him away as Sai stood before the two in a defensive position. "Go!" he shouted, his ninjaken clashing with Itachi's katana.

Itachi's brows knitted in annoyance. He had no time for such games. He grabbed the boy by the shirt, throwing him roughly against the side of the cliff as he advanced towards the bird struggling to keep its form.

* * *

Amaya watched in horror as Sai collided with the cliff side, rebounding off the structure to lie unmoving on a flat ledge. His chakra signature was weak. He was unconscious, but still alive and for that, she was grateful.

Itachi was making hand signs and watched as another clone was made. _'He must be conserving chakra. This technique is usually used to fool the enemy with multiple persons,'_ she reasoned as Kakashi dodged the slashes Itachi sent his way. The other Itachi ran past her and she cursed. It was heading after Naruto.

Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of obsidian and the other Itachi was thrown back to the arena and Naruto's cries faded away. Itachi growled.

"Must you always interfere in my business?"

"I have come to fight you. I will not be ignored," he frowned.

Itachi furrowed his brows. It seemed his little brother had gotten better at hiding his emotions, but he needed to see more anger. Itachi back flipped, sailing over Kakashi's battle with his image to land before Amaya. "Enjoying the show?"

"This was supposed to be entertaining?" she asked forming shadow clones before parrying his thrust before she formed rapid hand-seals. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

He dodged it easily, looking somewhat smug that she would use a technique his clan was famous for doing. Then again, he had taught it to her. "It is for me," he said sinisterly, destroying all her clones before focusing on the original. He slashed downwards and she blocked it. "Why are you using such a small sword? A longer sword gives you a longer range." he said referring to her ninjaken.

"A smaller sword means smaller blind spots," she replied. "Besides, I'm not trying to make up for something, _unlike some people._"

Her remark was not lost on him and to her cocky smirk, he frowned and slashed his sword, adding another laceration to the many that decorated her body. Suddenly, a voice reverberated through the trees. "Dammit!"

Heads looked up to the sound; Kakashi blinked. "Naruto?"

Itachi smirked. _'He let his guard down,'_ he thought and picked up the katana he embedded into the ground and charged towards the man. Amaya and Sasuke's eyes widened and Kakashi turned his head.

"_Gu-uh…"_

The sound of blood gurgling could be heard along with the dull thud and the waning sound of flapping birds. As Itachi's decapitated head rolled onto the ground, a mix of shock and anger on his face, Sasuke's Habataku Chidori receded with his curse seal. In the end, it was his guard dropping and a lucky hit that killed Itachi. With a grim gaze, he turned to Kakashi.

It had happened so fast and blood was gushing out and pooling around him like some sick ocean.

"You stupid girl."

Amaya managed to smile up at him, despite the sword that was buried in her stomach; the sword that had been meant for him.

She turned to Sasuke weakly. "Was it worth it? After all the friends you betrayed, all those lives lost, all those years…was it worth it?"

Something flickered across his eyes, but other than that, Sasuke betrayed no emotion in his face or his voice when he spoke. "I just fulfilled a lifelong goal. Nothing more. Nothing less. Everything I have done up to this point has been for this goal."

She gazed at him sadly.

"…although…"

"What?" she asked softly.

"As fate would have it, I have…regrets. I have avenged my clan, but I feel no happiness, no relief. I just feel…empty. Like my life has been wasted because I focused my entire life on this moment. Though I don't believe that killing my brother was wrong, I regret having to have to kill…" And she understood what he left out. Him. His flesh and blood. The same blood that coursed through his veins.

"…and I regret…I regret leaving them…I—I…miss it. Konoha…having friends…I miss it."

And as she bled freely, despite being at death's door, she smiled warmly at him, to which, the corner of his lips upturned. Nodding slightly, she turned her head to Kakashi. "Are you alright?"

Kakashi looked at her, a mix of anger, sadness, and disbelief washing through him at her words. She was dying and she was asking if _he_ was okay?! How idiotic could she be? Kami, she was so stupid! She never listened and she got too attached and she always cared too much and she was so fragile to words and why was he caring so much? So what if she was dying? He had tons of people die in his arms and though he was always saddened by their deaths, he couldn't explain why he was so upset about her dying. Then again, none had managed to get under his skin like she did.

She had always been stubborn and she got emotionally attached so easily. She was loyal and believed she could save everyone if she tried hard enough and she stupidly threw herself in front of him to save him from death. Why couldn't she leave it alone? Why couldn't she leave _him_ alone? Why couldn't she let him have the respite he had been waiting all his life? Why did she want him to live so much? Why did she care so much about him? Why did he have to care if she lived or died? Why did _he_ care so much?!

He…cared. He cared because if she was gone, he'd have no one to challenge him to the point of a kind of insanity that he seemed to crave. He cared because he'd have no one to tease, no one to slap him around for being cheap, no one he could talk to without actually having to talk. He cared because if she died, she'd rip a huge hole into his life. He'd be able to move on like he always did, but it wouldn't be the same. She made him care too much about things now to make him want to change back. She managed to change him and his way of life and he loved it. He loved his life the way it was now. He loved the fresh view he had on everything. He loved it—he loved her!

Kakashi's brain froze at this moment and all his muscles tensed. He loved her. He loved Amaya…and she was dying…

"Do you want to know why I have so many blemishes on my record?" she asked out of the blue and despite how much he wanted to throttle her for trying to get him from his thoughts, he chuckled through the beads of water pricking his eyes. "Sure."

"'Failure to follow orders,'" she quoted. "Want to know the orders?"

"Sure," he said trying to etch into his mind her face, her hair, her voice, _her._

"To run. To save myself. I've committed insubordination time and time again to save my comrades. Pretty lame, huh?" she chuckled, causing more blood to come from her lips as she coughed.

"No. I think that's pretty admirable. You were doing just what I taught. Obito would be proud," he said with a smile that wasn't entirely false.

"You think?" she asked as she gazed up at the blue sky, numbness beginning to fill her limbs. Her vision was starting to tunnel.

"Yeah. I know I am," he said gripping her hand and she smiled and felt the tear that splashed on cheek.

"Are you alright? You're crying," she asked. Her lips were tingeing blue and hot tears were streaming from his eyes.

"You—you can't. You can't die on me. I won't let you die," he told her firmly. She simply smiled and placed her hand to his clothed cheek, a tear sliding down her cheek before her hand slowly slid down his face and became limp at her side.


	14. Chapter 13

Is she alive? Is she dead? What's Sasuke going to do? Is there really only one more chapter? Find out now!

* * *

Sand. Miles and miles of sand. No matter what people said, Suna had an eerie quality of beauty for Kakashi, but as he sat by the window, he had no time to enjoy the view or the chance at rest he had been given. Not when one of his teammates was toeing the line between life and death.

After the battle with Itachi, Sakura and Naruto had stumbled upon the scene. Naruto immediately asked if Sasuke was the one to hurt her while Sakura tried as best she could with her low chakra levels to stem the bleeding. She had only done light patch work when Naruto asked Sasuke if they could trust him again as the Suna nin arrived. Apparently, after defeating Kabuto and Orochimaru once and for all, the Konoha nin stumbled into Suna and asked the Kazekage for a search party to be sent out.

That was yesterday.

-

-

"You know I'm only keeping quiet about this in return for saving my life, right?"

"Hai, Gaara-sama," Sakura bowed and with a nod, Gaara walked down the hall to quiet the raging blonde he called his best friend.

Sakura giggled. Gaara had really lightened up since she saw him last, she thought amusedly as she turned to the viewing window. Besides Kakashi and Amaya, Sai was also in there, recuperating from the several broken bones he suffered from being thrown against a cliff. Surprisingly, he suffered nothing but a concussion to his skull and she knew that if she could make a remark about him right now, it'd be that he was lucky his skull was so thick, otherwise he'd be dead.

Chuckling to herself, she failed to notice the familiar face until he was right in front of her. "Hey."

"Hey," she said shyly, tucking her shoulder-length hair behind her ear in a self-conscious act. It exposed her blush to him. He thought it was cute.

"So…how is everyone?" he asked self-consciously. It was (if you got to the root of it) his fault they were hurt, after all.

"They're pretty beat up, but they'll live. They always do," she smiled.

Sasuke chuckled. It felt good to laugh. How long had it been since he had laughed?

"Something funny?" she asked curiously.

Sasuke shook his head and smiled to himself. Now that Itachi was gone, it seemed like half a lifetime of emotions were spilling out to make up for lost time. As awkward as it was to express himself again, it felt nice. "No. Just thinking about how much I've missed out on," he mused.

She nodded at his answer, smiling sadly. "So…what do you plan on doing now?"

Sasuke shrugged. He wasn't really sure what to do. There were so many possibilities. "I don't know. I think I'll travel a bit more before I return home."

She looked up at him. He was half a head taller than her now. When had that happened? "Do you really promise to do that?" she asked.

He smirked and tucked away a stray lock of hair. "An Uchiha never goes back on his word," he replied. He smirked at her shocked expression and turned to the window. "Do you think they'll forgive me?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Do you forgive me?" he asked with baited breath.

"Yes."

"Does…does it still hurt? What I did to you. Does it still hurt?"

She smiled sadly to herself. "Yes, but…time heals all wounds, Sasuke."

Sasuke. It felt strange to hear her say the name without the "–kun". It felt like his heart was being stabbed. He tried to name it. Was this disappointment?

"…What should I expect when I return?"

She seemed to think about it for a minute. "Well, for starters, most of Konoha will shun you. Naruto will probably challenge you, the others will either slap you, avoid you, or both. Shikamaru will say 'troublesome,' everyone who went on the first retrieval mission will probably try and get a punch at you. Kakashi is going to smile at you and drill you relentlessly, Tsunade-sama is going put you on D-rank missions for at least two years, Amaya's going to punch you and then crush your ribs in a hug, and I'll send you flying back out of the gates before dragging you back into the village."

"You wouldn't…would you?" he asked. After all, after the change in behavior he had seen between her and Naruto, it was hard to tell where they stood.

She smiled at him. "I guess you'll just have to find out, won't you?"

He chuckled and she started to laugh too. Smiling at her one more time, he bent down and kissed her. It wasn't an earth-shattering change-your-life fairytale type of kiss, but it managed to make her heart flutter just a little bit. When she opened her eyes, he was gone and on the wind she heard him whisper, _"Wait for me."_

-

-

Kakashi sighed heavily as he sat in the hospital room. It was still the same hospital room. Metal frame bed, a small bedside table, green walls, white sheets, white pillowcases, a small bathroom on the other side of the room, and blue polyester chairs. Like the room, Amaya's condition had not changed in the past two days. Even though the worst had been avoided, she still needed to heal. Chakra couldn't work miracles. It just healed what it could. Amaya had her intestines punctured when she was stabbed. She had been lucky. A few millimeters more and her spinal cord would've been severed, but several organs exhibited internal bleeding. Itachi had done a bigger number on her than they thought.

When Kakashi was told there was a chance that she could still die, he refused to leave her bedside. He only left when he had to go to the bathroom or when Naruto or Sakura forced him out.

He watched her sleep, her chest rising and falling rhythmically with her breathing. She had been unconscious for two days now. He knew the longer she was in this state, the more likely it was going to be that she wouldn't wake up and he blamed himself for it.

'_If only I had been paying more attention. If only I hadn't taken my eyes off him. If only—if only—'_

"Kami, this is my fault," he choked out. First it was his father, then Obito, then Rin, then Minato, and now her. Was everyone he cared about condemned to the same fate? To die an early death? Was he cursed to have all his loved ones die? He could still remember the first person who died for his sake. Obito had pushed him out of the way of a falling boulder, crushing him instead of Kakashi. It was how he got the Sharingan and adopted his mottos and mannerisms. It was the day he gained and lost the first best friend he'd ever had and now…he was going to lose the first girl who managed to worm her way into his heart.

He sighed tiredly and sank into the chair he placed by her bedside. He felt drained and…were those tears in his eyes? He was _crying?_

'_A shinobi should never reveal their emotions. They make you careless and they get you killed.'_

But they were also what made him human.

And as he struggled with the tears, trying to figure out if he should let them fall or hold them back like he always did, he saw a flicker of motion on the bed. Eyelashes fluttered, then blinked once.

Twice.

Open.

Amaya winced as the light seared her eyes. _'Baby steps,'_ she told herself as she got her eyes acclimatized to the light before studying the room. _'Unless heaven is a hospital room, I think I'm in the wrong place.'_

She turned her head towards the window to see the unique architecture of Suna outside the pane of glass. Just then, she saw something.

"Kakashi? Why are you crying?"

Kakashi was seeing it, but he couldn't believe it. Distantly, he realized she was waving her hand before his face, desperately trying to call his attention. A chuckle left his lips, but he soon found tears in his eyes again. He could hear the alarm in her voice as she cried out, "Ah! Was it something I said? Is everything alright? Why aren't you telling me anything?!"

After a minute, he calmed down and gripped her hand in his gloved one. "I'm fine," he laughed. "I'm fine. I'm just…relieved."

She blinked at him. "Huh? What do you mean? Did something happen?"

"Well, when someone gets stabbed and wakes up after being unconscious for two days, I think you can classify it as 'something happened,'" he smiled. At her slightly stunned expression, he began to talk again, like he had to get everything out there before this happened again. Before he got a chance to know and ask.

"You almost died out there, you know. Twice, actually." He turned to her. "Why did you do something so reckless and stupid?"

She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly as a blush painted her cheeks. "Love makes people do stupid things. Besides, don't you remember what I told you before?"

_Flashback_

"_You know, I used to like someone." she said all of a sudden. Apparently, her mind had enlisted her mouth too._

"_Really?" he asked, curious._

_She sighed, a wistful look in her eyes. "Yeah. I looked up to him as a hero and things got weird and soon, I fell in love with him."_

"_Seriously?"_

_She laughed. "Yeah, seriously. I said I'd give my life for him. I still would."_

_End Flashback_

He blinked and pointed at himself. "It was me that you were talking about?"

She giggled. "I'm surprised, Kakashi-kun. You failed to read underneath the underneath. And you call yourself a shinobi," she teased.

"I thought you were talking about Itachi the whole time," he admitted.

She answered the statement with a look of abject horror. _"What?!"_

"Well, it sounded like you were describing him," he countered.

"You sell yourself too short, old man."

"I'm sorry. How old were you supposed to be? 5?"

"Hey!" she shouted, hitting him with her pillow.

He chuckled as he shielded him head with his forearms. When she stopped, he opened his eyes to see her hugging the pillow to her chest, the smile on her lips causing her to glow.

"It's good to have you back," he smiled.

"It's good to be back," she replied softly.

Strangely, after those words were let loose, Kakashi started to move towards her and she began to lean towards him. He lowered his lids and she closed hers when she felt the first touch of his lips on hers. Unlike all those tales of kisses that had fireworks that exploded in the background and brought the world to a halt, their kiss wasn't like that. It seemed to have slowed time for a second or two, but it hadn't exactly stopped it, but they didn't seem to care. It was special to them as far as kisses go and surprisingly, it went pretty far.

"Will you stop with all that mushy stuff?" Sai shouted on the other side of the curtain.

Kakashi and Amaya pulled away, a small blush on both their faces as they realized what they just did. He blinked at her and she blinked at him before the two burst out in laughter.

Sai really knew how to ruin a moment.


	15. Chapter 14

And here's the ending. This chapter is somewhat inspired by I Have Called You Friend, but it seems kind of possible that Karin modified his memories and the court scene is inspired by Grisu's Uchiha's Bane.

* * *

"Is it today the day? Is it? Is it?" prodded a raven-haired female.

Her silver-haired companion chuckled as he wound the bandages around his legs. "Yes, today is the day," he replied at last.

"Finally!" she shouted as she hurried out of the shared bedroom after a short session of jumping up and down excitedly. Her companion shook his head as he leisurely stood and checked over the room. The queen-sized bed was made, the shuriken print covers perfectly flat. The bedside lamp was turned off. The dresser drawers were closed. Closet was closed along with the bathroom door. Window was closed and not one volume of Icha Icha out of place on the small bookshelf he kept by the dresser.

"Hurry up, Kakashi! We don't want to be late!" Amaya shouted, sticking her head out from around the corner before running back out the door of their apartment. Kakashi shook his head and muttered aloud, "Now when have I ever been late for anything?"

* * *

The sky was overcast this morning, noted the 19-yr-old jounin medic, Haruno Sakura. She heard footsteps behind her as she stood by the Western gate and turned. "Hey Naruto."

"Hey Sakura-chan," cried out the exuberant shinobi, his shy girlfriend beside him.

"Hello Sakura-chan."

"Hi Hinata-chan," she greeted. Naruto smiled. "It's been three years," he said softly.

"Yes," she replied in a similar tone. _'Three years and so much has changed, but also so little.'_

Slowly, the others began appearing. Everyone from the Konoha 12 with the addition of Sai. It was surprising to see that even when three years had passed, they all looked relatively the same. _'Where's—' _

Then she heard it. "Sorry, we're late, but—"

Amaya cuffed Kakashi over the head. "Enough with the excuses and what do you mean 'we?'" she grumbled before turning worriedly to Sakura. "We aren't late, right?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. You're fine."

"Oh, good," she said before giving an apologetic kiss on the cheek to her boyfriend.

They all turned to the gate, staring into the forest of trees, their eyes honing on the dirt path. Sakura bit her lip. "Where is he? He said he'd come today. It's been three years," she muttered to herself. Where was he? He promised her three years in the letter he left in her bag all those years ago in Suna and in the letter that appeared in her mailbox, so where—

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked up from biting her nails to see a figure on the horizon. He wore a black traveling cloak over his clothing, but every now and again, you'd see a flash of his white shirt and his black pants. He had a sword without a hilt and when he came closer, he had a small smirk on his face and her heart fluttered as tears stung her eyes. "Sasuke-kun?"

He looked at her with a smirk and raised his hand to brush his thumb over her cheek. "Hello, Sakura."

* * *

Tsunade rested her chin delicately in the cradle her fingers created as she propped her arms up. It was noon and paperwork stood on either side of her, sake bottles neighboring the stacks. She stared contemplatively at the young man before her. For everything he did, not only to the village, but to her apprentice and her future recommendation for Hokage, he deserved some form of horrible punishment and she could see it in his eyes that he realized her sadistic plans. She smiled at him for a second, fueling his unease, but put her face into a stony expression.

"Uchiha Sasuke. You betrayed the village of Konoha, defected to Sound, led to the death of many valuable shinobi of our village, and caused grief for everyone who has ever cared for you. You will be imprisoned and evaluated before being brought to trial before the council," Tsunade explained and Sasuke flinched. Imprisonment, evaluation, trial? He sighed, it was to be expected. He hung his head and awaited his fate.

"…But that can be done tomorrow," she said cheerfully.

"What?!" he shouted, startling Tsunade and Sakura, his escort. "I'm not sure I heard correctly—"

"You did," she interrupted. She turned to smile at Sakura. "You two have fun. I'm sure you have some catching up to do."

Smiling at the stunned duo, she watched with amusement as Shizune pushed the two out the door before turning to the Gondaime. "Are you sure that was the best thing to do?"

"Probably not, but hey. The kid killed a sannin and an S-class nin and came back of his own accord. He deserves some kind of reward for taking care of our problems."

And in spite of herself, Shizune found herself agreeing.

* * *

After a quick stop at her apartment to check Sasuke over, the two went over to the old Team 7 training grounds. Not surprisingly, it was empty as many people knew Kakashi would be haunting this area at this time and tended to avoid it until he was gone, as to not disturb him.

Sakura sat in the lush grass beside her raven-haired companion and tucked her legs under her chin. "So, what was it like?"

"You're being too vague. I can tell you what a lot of things are like without you ever getting the answer you might want," he replied as he lounged against the tree.

"Smart aleck," she remarked, making him chuckle. She turned to face him. "But seriously, what was it like being a missing-nin and traveling?"

"Why? You thinking of becoming one?"

"No. It's just, it has to be a different experience than if you were a regular nin."

"Hn," he grunted and she chuckled at his trademark response. Though she heard it all the time from Kakashi and Neji, it was different hearing it from Sasuke. It was special. "Well, I had you guys tailing me all the time. We could never stay at an inn and I've gotten propositioned by more women than I care to remember, but…"

"But what?"

"There was a sense of freedom that came with it. This feeling of being your own person, having control over your life. It made you appreciate things more, like a bowl of rice or just sleeping under the stars."

"You've become more philosophical since you've left," Sakura noted.

"And talkative. You've grown out your hair," he stated out of the blue, fingering her pink hair. It was the same length he remembered her having as a genin. It looked nice on her.

She smoothed her hair self-consciously. "Yeah. It's a bit of a hassle," she admitted. "What was it like with Hebi?"

Sasuke was caught off-guard by the question. "What?"

She played with the grass beneath her fingers, relishing in the slight tickle they offered. She felt like a kid again. "What was it like with all of them? Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu—how was it?"

"It wasn't good, it wasn't bad. Suigetsu was a bit cocky and a bit of a whiner, but he was a good fighter and a good friend," he answered.

"He faced off against Kisame, right? What happened to him?"

"He got dehydrated. He lived by getting water from the pine needles. I met up with him after I left you guys. We traveled for about a year together before we parted ways. The last I heard, he was still looking for the rest of the swords."

She nodded and turned to look out at the trees contrasting against the grey sky. "What about Juugo?"

"He didn't seem to really belong. He was just cursed with that enzyme in his body. That's how Orochimaru got the Curse seal. It was to duplicate what the enzyme did to him. He was actually quite gentle. I was a bit sad after he died. He grew on a person." Sasuke turned to face Sakura. "You faced against Karin, correct?"

"Hai," she answered.

"How was that?" he asked calmly.

Sakura looked up into the tree before answering. "She underestimated me and I killed her. She forgot to tie my feet up."

"I remember she tried clawing your eyes out in the beginning and thinking it was an unorthodox method."

Sakura chuckled. "Yeah. The whole entire time we were fighting, she was talking about you. When I cut off her hair instead of her head, she freaked out about what you would think of her." Sakura mentally cringed. If she hadn't pushed herself, would she have turned out that way?

Sasuke's face became shadowed. "Karin…I hated her." Sakura looked up and blinked, a question in her eyes. "She…she altered my memories of you. She made you seem like a villain in the beginning when Orochimaru tried to make me forget about you and then she begun to replace you with her. I knew they weren't real, but if I said anything, she might not have helped me so easily."

Sakura blinked at him. "How did you know they weren't real?"

Sasuke slowly lowered his lids and opened them to expose the sharingan. "This."

"Your sharingan?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and when he reopened them, they were obsidian once more. "To a degree. It's my blood. Being an Uchiha. What she did only managed to glaze over my memories. I could remember you and everyone else, but not clearly."

"I see."

"I'm not surprised she died the way she did. She was careless. Even when she was trying to modify my memories, she was careless. There were so many inaccuracies that it made it hard to believe what happened was real."

"Oh," Sakura said quietly.

The wind blew, kicking up leaves and carrying them on the breeze. The grass bowed and in the trees, a bird sang.

"You know…I was wrong."

She turned to him quizzically. "You were?"

"When I said you were annoying all those years ago—when I left the village, I was wrong. You weren't annoying. She was."

Sakura chuckled and after the laughter subsided, she was left with an inner calm that made a serene smile appear on her face. "I like this."

"You're being vague again, Haruno."

She ignored him, but decided to elaborate. He wouldn't understand unless she told him anyway. "This moment. This place in time. This calm. I like it."

"Hmm," he said contemplatively. "…I agree."

"We should do this more often," she stated.

"Aa." She chuckled and he turned to her. "What's so funny?"

"'Aa.' It's been years since I've heard you say that."

And after a minute, he couldn't help but chuckle as well.

* * *

Amaya sat by the window of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. She looked down over the bustling streets of the village, watching all that went around her.

It was a few months after the sentencing. The village had been in uproar when they found out Sasuke came back. The trial was long, tedious, but unbearably nerve-wracking. Almost everyone on the mission became a character witness. Even Tsunade put her title on the line to vouch for him.

After much deliberation, taking into account that he betrayed the village, but killed an S-rank sannin-turned-traitor and crippled the Akatsuki by taking out two of their specialists, it was decided that Uchiha Sasuke would not be able to leave the village for the next year. He would be put under house arrest and observed for a period of six months before they would decide whether he would be able to apply for the Chunnin exams to regain his chunnin rank. He didn't mind. He knew he had brought this upon himself and now, here they all were.

Sasuke finally came back after completing his first goal, Sakura got the love of her life back, Naruto was well on his way to becoming Hokage, Hinata got the boy of her dreams, Neji was finally happy with his life and Tenten couldn't agree with her boyfriend more, Kurenai had a pair of healthy twins, Ino had finally got her troublesome teammate, Shikamaru was keeping true to his word and making Asuma proud, and Kakashi and Amaya had each other. Everyone got their own piece of happiness, because fate had a funny way of making things alright again and Kakashi and Amaya were fated to have a bit more happiness in their lives.

"Amaya, I'm home!" Kakashi shouted from the entrance, just having gotten back from a three-week A-rank mission. Amaya smiled.

He just didn't know it yet.

_**Owari **_


End file.
